Turning Wounds Into Wisdom
by xxXXHappyLlamaXXxx
Summary: One day I was just a normal girl, fighting with my brother, 'back talking' my mother, and struggling to keep up in school. Now I'm living with a bunch of intergalactic beings keeping me from an evil robot leader that looks like a home-made toaster? Where did I go wrong in life to deserve this?
1. Prologue

Prologue

In life, it's natural to wonder, to think, to give opinions. One of the many things to ponder in life is death. It's a universal thought. I don't think anyone can say that they haven't thought about it before. As I said, it's completely natural to wonder.

When people think about death, they usually think of where they're going to go, heaven or hell. And you can't forget those golden gates among the clouds, with god waiting for you at the entrance. But a lot of people don't think about _how_ they're going to die. They just ignore that one question and they put it in the back of their mind, with the rest of the unwanted questions. They think they don't have to think about it because they immediately assume that they're gonna live a long, happy life. You see, people are so oblivious to the society around them. We look in newspapers, listen to the radio, and watch the news. They see the headlines. Some about murders, car accidents, fatal incidents while on the job. They give sympathy to those families, those people who had lost their lives, and then they continue on with life. We don't think about what it would be like if that happened to _us. _We think we're too busy to think about death, while we still have a whole life ahead of us. We don't want to waste any time. Though please, I urge you not to think any different, for time is all you have. But one day you may find you have less than you think.

I shouldn't be talking about this without saying that I too was once so ignorant. I had been so caught up with my life, that I forgot the _meaning_ of life. I would tell what had caused me to think differently after all those years, but then I would ruin the whole story I have to tell you. All I can say is that in life, you're gonna fall down, lots of times. you may have wounds, deep gashes, ones that will not let you get up easily. But, with power and fight and bravery inside you, you can turn those wounds into wisdom. You can get up, go against what the world is telling you and you can _fight_.

You're probably wondering by now, 'what is she trying to get to?' Truthfully, I don't even know what point I'm trying to get across. Maybe that you should live your life to the fullest, enjoy every moment as if it was your last, any of those old cheesy sayings. Just listen to what I have to say. Then you can find out for yourself and make your own opinion. Then maybe I finally can too.


	2. Chapter 1

"Lena, Lena, Lena, guess what I got!" I stopped doing my homework and turned around to see my little brother who was smiling widely at me. I grinned back at him as I see the huge gap in his teeth where he had lost his two front ones.

"What's up, squirt?" I reply then rub his hair in a playful way. His smile then drooped into a frown. He hates it when I rub his head and calls him squirt. He always considers himself an adult. "Hey, I'm not a squirt! And stop messing with my hair! You know I don't like it!" I would've rolled my eyes at his antics but then he would've gone screaming to Ma about it.

I put my hands up as if to admit defeat. "Okay, okay! I'll stop messing with your hair _and_ calling you squirt, if you…" I trailed off and looked at him with my right eyebrow raised.

He leaned forward eagerly, waiting for an answer. "What, what do you want me to do?" I remained quiet until he was almost touching me. "If you…. Sit on the bed….and close your eyes." He stared at me with his head tilted to the side, confused. I had to say it was so darn cute.

I put a serious look on my face and pointed to my bed. Once he did what I said for him to do, I stood up and walked up to the opposite wall, staring at my band posters. "Lena….what do you want me to do? Why did you want me to sit on your bed?"

I couldn't help it as an evil smirk crept up on my face and I slowly turned around to face him. He sat straight up, alarmed and tried to scramble off the bed while sheets were flying everywhere. "So I could to this!" I ran and jumped on the bed, trapping him underneath me. He struggled to get loose as I began to give him a noogie. "Lena, stop it, Mom!" He screeched helplessly while squirming beneath me. I stopped as my Ma rammed the door open, her arms across her chest.

"Lena, were you givin' your brother a noogie again? How many times do I have to tell you that I don't like it! You're doing the floor and dishes after supper." I groaned and ran my hands through my hair as Ma walked out and Jay cheered. I snapped my head back at him and gave him the most menacing glare I could muster up. He cringed away from me. "Would you be quiet?" I snapped at him angrily. He scurried out of the room, frightened by my sudden change of mood. And somehow, from downstairs my Ma heard me. "Lena, come down here and finish the laundry for me! I'm makin' dinner!" I hissed under by breath followed by a couple of curses.

I pulled on my socks and slid through the hall. Once I got to the staircase I hopped up on the rail and gave myself a kick-start. The staircase wasn't very large but it was fun for sliding down since you had a slight curve to go around. I love doing it because it's one of those things I could do without getting into trouble.

I landed on the floor with a soft thump then began making my way into the living room. But before I did I picked up my Mp3 player from the hall table and put my earphones in. I slowly walked in through the archway into the living room and then changing back to regular pace one I saw that Ma wasn't in here with the clothes. Good, she must already be looking to make something for dinner. Now I won't have to listen to her giving me lectures about treating others the way you want them to treat you.

It doesn't matter now if you treat someone good, they won't always do the same. I learned to put up with that after so long. And I see my brother did too. Not that I don't like him, I love him to pieces. But man, he gets on my nerves!

I picked a scrunchie out of the few I had on my just in case of major 'hair in face irritation' and pinned my hair up into a bun. Then, I turned on the music, putting it on shuffle and began folding the clothes Ma had wanted me to do.

I swayed to the music as I folded the clothes, piece by piece. I hummed along with a tune as I spun around to place a pair of pants in the pile my brothers clothing was in. Then I twisted back again when I had a bunch of towels to place in the correct pile. This went one and one until one by one; I had folded everything and had placed them in neat organized piles. I took each pile of clothes, putting a pile in my room to be packed away later, and then I stopped at Jays.

I knew he would be upset and that sooner or later my Ma would want me, or more likely, make me apologize to him. While sighing, I knocked on his door. Hearing the pausing sound of the video game, I shifted stances, putting more weight on my right foot.

"Go away Lena!" I heard his muffled shout behind the door.

"No, I'm not going away until you open this door." I said as I fixed a pair of socks on the top of the pile when it began to slip. While doing so, I heard the patting of little feet that stopped by the door. I smiled as I saw his shadow underneath the door, knowing that he was down on his stomach checking to see if I was sill there.

Grumbling something incoherent, he got up on his feet, opened the door and poked his head out of it. "What do you want?" He mumbled angrily while keeping a straight back. I held the clothes out to him and he gladly accepted it then began to close the door on me.

Right before he successfully did, I put my foot in his doorway, blocking it. I cringed as the door came down on my unguarded toes. He must have been going for the 'slamming the door shut is the symbol of go away and stay away' move. "Wait Jay, I wanted to…..say that I'm sorry." His once anger filled face turned into one of surprise. I expected him to be so because I usually never apologize to him. He nodded for me to continue. "I haven't been the best sister and I'm sorry. I just find you to be sometimes annoying."

His face fell for a moment but then he smiled and crossed his arms. "I know how you feel. Apology accepted." Before I got a chance to process what he had said, he shut the door in my face.

I shook my head to clear my mind and began to head for the stairs again but then remembered that I had forgotten to put Ma's clothes in her room. Turning from the staircase, I walked into her room. While looking around I placed the clothes on her bed. This room still gave me the creeps after two years.

"Lena, what are you doing!" I jumped slightly, frightened, then turned around.

There was my mother standing against the wall with a not so impressed look on her face. I could tell I was in for it.

"Uh…. I'm just bringing in your clothes…." I trailed off while scratching the back of my head.

I looked up and stared into her eyes. I was lost for words to say. She was _furious_. "Didn't I tell you to leave my clothes outside the door for me to get myself and _never_ to step foot in here?" Crap, now I'm caught. I know I am because I can barely lie for my life.

"I forgot…" I mumbled and took a step towards to door. But I was blocked as she stepped into the doorway. "You forgot?! I tell you and remind you everyday! You can't do anything right! Now go to your room!" I felt my temperature rise as the anger inside me began to boil.

"I do nothing right?! I do just about everything for you! You always disapprove of what I do and I'm sick of it!" She narrowed her eyes at me and stood straighter. Perfect. She's in a fighting mood, just my luck.

"_You_ do everything? I support this family, thank you very much for noticing! I shelter you, I feed you and I buy the things you want. So don't you dare say I do nothing."

"That's not it! I'm not talking about feeding us, clothing us and all that crap! I'm talking about us as a family. You never have time for us! You're always at work! This has been your only day off since February. You've had no real time for me or Jay for two months!" I screamed back at her furiously. I start to feel frustrated at her ignorance and tears began to prick in the corner of my eyes. She'll never understand. All she thinks about is work, feed kids, and work.

"I have to work so much because I have to support you and your brother! Don't be such an ungrateful brat!"

That's what broke me. I was never ungrateful in my life. Not once. I had wanted so much that I've never gotten. Though I never complained because I had learned to live with not getting what I wanted. But those words she had said to me made me say those three words I promised myself I would never say.

"I hate you!" I screamed at her and pushed past to make my way to my bedroom. Thankfully my door had a lock on it.

I flopped on my bed and stuffed my face into my pillow, muffling the noise around me. I could hear my brother Jay knocking on the door. I suddenly felt very guilty. He hates fighting, especially when I and Ma do. So I got up and unlocked to door.

On the other side was Jay with his big watery eyes staring at me. I noticed in his arms was the only bear he ever kept all these years. A large stuffed teddy bear names Bernard. He says he's too old for teddy bears since he's ten years old but still uses him when he feels frightened or upset.

I touched him on the shoulder and he slowly walked with me to the edge of my bed. We sat down for a while together just staring into nothing when I heard Jay's quiet voice intrude my thoughts.

"Lena..." I looked down at him and smiled slightly, or tried to for the most part. I think he could see it was fake."Yes Jay?" He looked down at his hands which were holding his teddy bear tightly. "Why do you and mom fight so much?" He must have felt me stiffen because he started to apologize. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't."

"No…it's alright. You see, I and Ma don't always think the same and agree on things so sometimes we can become upset with one another."

He yawned and put his head on my shoulder. "Come on bud, you want to have a nap?" He nodded sleepily and I moved him so that he was lying down on one side of the bed. I went around the other side so I could lay down with him.

"Now, why are you so tired?" I demanded and threw my arm around his shoulder softly. "I couldn't sleep last night?"

He squeaked and he tried to wriggle out of my grip on his shoulders but I tightened it. "Come on Bud, what's got you so tired? I won't get mad." He shifted slightly before sighing in defeat.

"I was…sort of playing video games all night." I laughed lightly and brushed some of his black hair out of his eyes. "Now that I believe," I said quietly. I knew that if he was still aware of what I was saying he would have protested greatly about being addicted to video games. So this was how I knew he was asleep. I gently brushed back his thick bangs as I kissed his forehead softly.

Getting up, being careful not to wake Jay, I went to my laptop. My laptop was my baby. I didn't have any friends, well okay, I did have a couple. But not those types of friends you would ask to go at something with in after school hours. I'm just not really social…I guess I was born to be socially awkward. My mom had always complained to me about it because when she was in high school she had been most popular, of course. We've fought about it a lot actually. We've had countless little spats over the stupidest things.

I just fiddled around on it for a bit when I decided to search random things up. It's really fun because you never know what you could find. I once found a cat eating a cheese string and drinking Kool-Aid. I decided to search up aircrafts just out of sudden curiosity and searched through the multiple websites. I kept scrolling until I found something that looked interesting. It was some sight about myths and sighting and all that stuff. It must have been my luck because I loved all that stuff and it's rare when you find a good site.

There was an article on the side bulletins that said 'ALIENS TAKING OVER UNIVERSE' I rolled my eyes at that.

I love these websites but the one thing that I totally dislike about it is the crazies that think stuff like this was going to happen. I don't think it's all these sites but just a few in particular. Like that one website I use to go on. I think it was the real f-ing deal or something like that? I mean, come on. Who's going to believe all the stuff that stuff on it? It's complete bull.

I clicked on the link to see what lame excuse the guy had come up with this time. I raised my eyebrows as I saw a video there. Clicking on the video, I watched it. I recognized where the video was taking place, it was Mission City. That was the place that had been shut down for clean up of the damage that was done supposedly by 'terrorists'. Can you believe that the government thinks we're that stupid enough to believe that?

There were people running all over the place while there were explosions in the background. The person who was holding the camera was running too which was causing a blurry visual. Then suddenly an explosion must have come from behind the person holding the camera and caused him to fly forward. Losing his grip on the camera, it tumbles to the ground and on its side. Just before it went black, a face came up in front of the screen; a face that had the blood in my veins running cold and heart galloping. I stopped the video and looked closely. This was no ordinary face. It was a _metal_ face. Its face has jagged pieces of metal framing it in a way that made it look deadly. It had teeth that looked and probably were sharper than razor blades. Also, it had what seemed to be _talons _coming out of its fingers.

I felt the blood drain out of my face as I imagined how swiftly it could probably cut a person into half. Or chop them up for robot fondue. Scratch that, wouldn't our muscles get clogged up in their gears? I shuddered at that…bad mental image.

I put my thoughts back on track and continued thinking about the possibility of huge robots walking the earth. No, it just doesn't seem possible. The video could've been edited…but no one would be able to do that…not any amateur, and especially not one of the people who created the website. All those movements made by the robot thing would take a while to frame….. I feel that the video is real but it's just impossible. How can robots be terrorizing the earth? They aren't sentient…they can't think, or….can they?

* * *

Okay, I decided to start the story I would add chapter one in along with the prologue to give you more of an idea of where this is going. So, there you have it... chapter one of Turning Wounds Into Wisdom! Please review and tell me what you think. Also, if you have any suggestions or ideas for later chapters that you think would do good in one, you can PM me!

So far I am up to chapter four in writing and before christmas I have a goal of writing at least ten chapters, I'm hoping I can write more! With everything I'm trying to get completed, it'll be a miracle to reach that goal.

Au revoir,

Taylor


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

I was walking through the hallway when I heard a voice behind me, "Hey Vaughn!" I turned around to find my Biology partner, Parker, waving to me. Shoot, I forgot about going over her house after school today to do some project.

"Hey Parker, what's up?" I said as she came up to me and punched me on the shoulder, our way of greeting each other. Parker was fixing her ponytail as she spoke.

"Oh nothing, just getting my books for History, what about you?" "Same." I replied as I leaned against my locker while holding my English books in my arms. "So are you coming over today to get a head start on our assignment?" Her face fell when she saw mine which was apologetic.

"I'm so sorry; I forgot…I have to work today. I'm off tomorrow so we can go at it right away after school. I promise." She sighed and shook her head. "Fine, but if you can't make it tomorrow I'll have to start on it myself. I'm not leaving it for the last minute."

"Okay, but I'm absolutely sure I'll be able to make it tomorrow." The bell for the last class rang so we waved each other goodbye and was on our way to the last class of the day.

English was absolutely dreadful. I love English, but I can't say the same for the boys sitting behind me. I had gotten the chance to be sat by myself for English while everyone else had partners. One of the people in my class got expelled. Lucky for me, you would say, but no. I have to sit in front of the most irritating, ignorant, rude and perverted boys in the whole school. Their names were Grant and Garland, they're brothers. You would think they were twins by the way they act with one another, almost telepathically. I really think I should get back on topic. Anyways, for the whole class and I mean _whole_ class, they were jabbing me in the butt with their pencils. While they were, they were sniggering and whispering extremely offensive and sexual things about me that I don't ever, _ever_ want to repeat. In that class was also the first time I had ever got yelled at by the principle in her office. I had tipped over my chair getting up and turned around to shout at the boys. I said something around the lines of "Perverted asses" and "Snobby skunks." The last sentence I said I had no idea what I was actually yelling, but he first one I meant. The class was surprised at me because I'm practically mute in school unless the teacher asks me a question.

Thankfully, I didn't get detention…I couldn't miss another day of work or else my boss said I would be fired, and I really don't want to get fired. I love my job at the best and only Café in town. It's run by a Spanish couple that had immigrated here in the sixties from Spain.

School had just ended and I was more than excited to exit through the front doors. After spending roughly eleven years in school, you kind of want to stay away from it as much as possible. So, I hopped into my piece of junk Corolla that my mom had passed down to me which was practically falling apart and pulled out of the school parking lot. But, before I did so, some idiot decided to pull out in front of me, or should I say_ idiots_. It was Grant and Garland. I growled as they stuck their heads out the window laughing, they're such jerks. I shook my head and pulled up behind them, but not before noticing a huge truck pass by. By that, I mean _huge_ compared to the little ones we usually see. I've never seen anyone who drives that type of truck before.

That's one of the things in a small town. You know everyone and you know what cars there are and aren't. 'It's probably just some tourist or scientist coming to take a look around before they go the next town for some real studying. There's really nothing you can study here. Maybe the soil or something like that, but nothing really interesting. After wondering that, I knew they weren't tourists or scientists. Why would a tourist come here? They wouldn't have anything to see. For scientists, even less.

I pulled up into the parking lot of the café 'Kozy Kitchen.' And yes, the word cozy is supposed to be spelled like that. Just some way to make it sound friendlier I guess? Anyways, I pulled down the driver side mirror and made sure that my hair was good and I didn't have anything on my face. I look at my watch and see that I still have ten minutes before my shift so I just sit back and turn on the radio while making sure most parts of my hair was in place. After being satisfied with my hair, I turned to look at my face.

I have to say I was decent. Not beautiful, I was the borderline of pretty. People usually say different but I think they just do because they pity me or pity who I am. I have silky black hair which flowed to my torso and pale paper white skin. Along with those characteristics I have very strange eyes. They're sort of icy but very bright at the same time. I say that's my best characteristic but I don't agree with them. People are usually scared to approach me because of them. They make me look more intimidating than I actually am, people usually whisper and stare, immediately assuming I'm an emo because of the way I look. I really don't care about what they say, just that it hurts to know that people can be so dense enough to think they know a person's life just by looking at their physical appearance

I jumped slightly at the vibrating sensation in my pocket. I clawed to get my cell phone out of tiny compartment, cursing the companies for making pants with such tight pockets. Once I tugged it out, I flipped it open. "Hello?"

"Lena, do you know what time it is?!" The voice on the other end who I recognized to be Mrs. Martinez, yelled at me. I was slightly confused for a moment then looked at the clock on the dash. Crap. I was on time but late because I day dreamed in my car outside.

"Y-yes Senorita Martinez. I was in my car outside. I was early so I decided to wait a little before timing in. And I sort of…zoned out day dreaming?" I squeaked out the ending so high-pitched I cringed at myself. I knew what was going to happen.

I heard a sighed at the end of the line and I could almost see Mrs. Martinez shaking her head at me. "Only you Lena, only you. Okay, since you actually didn't miss anything, only five minutes you can just come on in." I just about passed out from relief. She didn't fire me! "Thank you Senorita, thank you so much!" She laughed lightly on the other end of the line.

"You can show me how thankful you are when you serve our customers and clean up after them. Also, you should be grateful Senor Martinez was out for a stroll or else I would have no choice but to take you off the job." I thanked her loudly then hung up. Checking myself in the mirror one last time, I hopped out of the car, locked my doors and ran into the back of the building where there was a back entrance. I searched through my jacket pockets and found the key and unlocked the door.

I looked around for a moment, taking off my coat and hanging it up on the rack. Then, I turned around to see Mrs. Martinez standing tall with her arms crossed. If you could see her now, you would practically be cowering like I was at the moment. She unraveled her arms and pointed out the door towards the front counter. I nodded at the quickly, and rushed out front while tying my apron up. When I was finished I brushed my hands over it to get rid of any unwanted wrinkles that lived in it and served the first customer.

That's the way it went for almost two hours. Not a really exciting job is it? I was cleaning up one of the counters when I heard the front entrance open again. Looking up, I saw a group of soldiers, dressed formally. Finishing up the table I was cleaning, I straightened up and walked towards the table they were sitting. They didn't seem to notice me at first; one man was trying to get this other man to quit speaking Spanish. I was amused by the scene but then had to clear my throat to get their attention. The man who told the other man to quit speaking Spanish turned around and smiled at me. I smiled back to just keep up the happy mood. "Hello, what can I get you?" They looked around at each other and told me that they weren't ready.

I went behind the counter to get a dish which was just fresh out of the oven and grabbed a towel beside it to make sure I wouldn't burn myself. Hearing an "excuse me" behind me I turned around, putting the plate down on the counter once more. Standing in front of me was one of the soldiers I was serving. "Hey, we're new to this place and I just wanted to ask you, are there any hotels here? We came here on urgent notice so we didn't get a chance to see." I laughed slightly and shook my head. His face fell, "sorry, but in an extremely small town like this, there usually isn't no visitors except relatives."

"Huh," he said while rubbing the back of his neck, looking away. He thanked me but began to walk away. But just as he did, I had an idea; my Ma could thank me later. "Wait, sir!" I said loudly and grabbed the hot plate on the counter.

Of course, being me, I forgot to put the towel around the plate. Pain laced through my hands and up my arms. Dropping the plate quickly back onto the counter, causing it to chip slightly, I let out a pained shout. Falling against the wall, I held my hands firmly together then took a look at them. I cringed, knowing that tomorrow there was probably going to be many blisters.

The soldier walked over quickly, concern was clear on his face. "Are you alright?" He took my hands in his. If it wasn't for what was going on, I would have blushed. I nodded slightly, taking my hands back and pushing my self off the wall. "Are you sure?" He didn't seem to believe me. "Yes sir, I'm absolutely fine, I've had worse than this." He sighed and nodded then walked back to where his group was sitting.

I went into the back and searched through the first aid kit quickly and found some gauze and burn lotion which I put on my hands then wrapped them lightly. Ignoring the stinging, I went out to the counter to clean up the mess I had made, being sure to pick up all the little pieces of glass. Getting some napkins, I wiped up the sauce on the counter to make sure nothing was left for Mrs. Martinez to complain about.

Remembering the group of men, I went back to the table. This time they heard me approach and turned around. "Are you guys ready to order now?" They all nodded and told me what they wanted. Let's see: Lasagna, club sandwich, nachos and salsa, chicken parmesan and tacos. I think I can remember that. After taking their menus I gave the order to Christy who was in the back cooking.

After serving a couple who was obviously here on their date, I went back to the kitchen and undid the gauze on my hands. They were both beet red and you could see the skin was starting to peel off a bit. I ran some cold water under the tap and stuck them both beneath it. I sighed as I felt the rushing relief of coolness against my skin. Standing there for a few minutes, I switched off the water and dried my hands off carefully, making sure not to put myself in anymore pain than I already was. After doing that, I once again wrapped them both.

"Lena, I got some of them orders done!" I heard Christy yell from behind the cabinets "Okay thanks Christy!" Once again, getting the platters, I walked over to the table and placed them down.

While doing so, I heard them talking about the issue of places to stay. I cleared my throat and crossed my arms, hissing when pressure was pressed on my hands.

They all turned to look at me and I suddenly felt nervous. I've never had this much attention, even less a group of men.

"You guys are still looking for a place to stay, right?" They all nodded while looking back at one another. "So, I was thinking…would you guys could crash at my house, its big enough, and it's extremely empty." The soldier I was talking to early sat up straighter, surprised by the sudden offer.

Then standing up, he looked at me carefully. "Are you sure? We wouldn't want to be such a burden on you and your family. We can easily set up tents." I scoffed at that, no way in hell they can without getting blown away by the storm coming. "I'm totally sure…" "Lennox, William Lennox." He said when he found out what I was secretly asking for. "I'm completely sure, Mr. Lennox. My family wouldn't mind, they'd probably enjoy it. At most my Ma would probably just complain about the dust around the house and cleaning it up for you guys." William Lennox nodded his head and took his hand in mine, shaking it with a vice grip. "Thank you so much," he said his voice heavy with gratitude. "We'll have to pay you back somehow; maybe we can ask the government to send you a check?" I shook my head furiously. "No, you don't have to do that Mr. Lennox. I don't like taking people's money. Never did, never will."

He sighed and rubbed the back of his neck, he was starting to become frustrated with me. "I haven't gotten your name yet?" I groaned mentally and held out my hand, and we shook again, "Maylene Vaughn, at your service."

"Okay, Maylene." I winced as he called me by my full name, and he seemed to notice, "Though I have to warn you of something." Looking at him tensely, I began to dislike the idea of asking hi and his group to sleep at my home.

"What is it?" Looking around at the rest of the men, it seemed like they had no idea what he was talking about.

"My men have big appetites…you may find your refrigerator empty of food when you get home." I relaxed as he said those words and laughed lightly.

"Of course Mr. Lennox, we have too much food in the refrigerator anyways. Think we'll have enough to feed you and your men."

With that, Christy called out that the rest of the orders were done and I went to retrieve them.

That's how the rest of my shift went. I and William Lennox had agreed that at 6, when I got off from my shift, he and his men would come back to the café parking lot to be led to my home by me in my piece-of-crap corolla.

Now, all I have to figure out was how am I going to tell my mother why we have five men in out house when she gets off work.

After cleaning up around the café when it closed, I hung up my apron, said goodnight to Senorita Martinez and exited through the back door.

I breathed in the fresh air, you could see the puff of air as I breathed it back out. It was strange; the weather was never this cold, especially in October.

Shivering as the cool wind went through my sweater; I hugged myself, and dug my face more into my autumn scarf. I looked around, wondering if William Lennox and his men had returned from their work. Surprisingly, they were gathered around the black vehicle I had seen today, chatting. They must have heard my footsteps crunching on the ground because they were suddenly tensed up and turned around. Sheepishly, I waved my hand. I could see they visibly relaxed as they saw who I was and the rest of the men continued to speak as William Lennox came up to my side.

"So Maylene, are you ready to lead us back to your home?" He said happily while fiddling with something strapped to his belt, I assumed it was a gun.

I nodded and went over to my Corolla while William told his men to get into truck and into a car I never noticed beside them. I was surprised to see that the car was a Stingray. When all the men were in the black truck, I could have swore that it shifted a little but ignored it because it was probably just that I was over tired from school and work.

So, I lead them to my house which was on the edge of town. I think they would like it here because no one lives out here but us; the next house was eight kilometers down the dirt road.

When we came around the corner, the house came into view; I have to say that it was pretty huge, huge enough that I always wondered why we needed a behemoth of a house when there were only four people.

Pulling up by the garage, I hopped out and waiting for them to do the same. When all of them were out and had their luggage, I led them inside. William whistled beside me. "You didn't tell me you had a mansion, Maylene!" I cringed at that statement and ignored it while I opened the front door.

"Okay, follow me and I show you guys to the rooms you'll be staying in." Walking up into the second floor I showed them three rooms. "I hope four of you guys don't mind sharing. These are all the spare rooms we got."

William nodded and laid down his bag. "Of course, we're very grateful that you let us stay here for a night." Smiling, I began to start back down the hall. "You guys can get situated then if you're not tired you can come down into the kitchen." They all nodded and began to fuss over who got which room.

I chuckled then began down the hall to my room. Opening my laptop, I searched up that website I had found last night, excited to see if I could find any more videos about mission city. When I clicked search a sentence came up. 'This website no longer exists due to illegal use of copyright material.'

"Strange," I murmured. I tried a couple more websites I had found with mission city news on it and growled to find that they all said the same thing. 'This website no longer exists due to illegal use of copyright material.'

I twisted my head around and heard feet going down the hall and remembered that I told the men to go down to the kitchen. I got out of my desk chair and slide down stairs on the rail to get to the kitchen.

Sliding on my socks around the corner, I slid into on of the bar stools, but quickly straightened myself out. Thankfully the men down here didn't see me do such a thing. If they did, my Ma would have my head when she and if she found out.

Sticking my head into the refrigerator, I found some leftover ham, chicken and tortillas. But, I wasn't sure if they would like a wrap as a snack later on. I peaked my head out of the refrigerator, I sighed. "Okay guys, I have no idea what you like so you can just help yourself when you feel like it. Just don't take the dark chocolate. My Ma gets cranky without it. Also, just out in the hall if you turn right you'll find the living room. Also, there's a pool table you can mess around with in a game room onside of the living room. Upstairs, if you like to read you can find a small library. You can help yourself to the bathroom too if you want showers. Now, if you don't mind, I have an assignment to try and start." They all nodded and split up into groups of two. From where they were going I guessed that two were going to the living room while the other two were going to the game room. Hopefully they don't break anything or else I would have to explain to my Ma why there was five men in the house AND why I let them wander the house my themselves while I was up in the library doing my work.

Walking to the library, I heard a hushed voice. Walking quicker, I came up to the library doors and pressed my ear to it, then realized that it was William talking to someone on his cell phone.

"Listen Ironhide," he began quietly, as it not wanting me to hear. Anyways, what kind of name is Ironhide? "I know you're not comfortable with this but trust me, she's not dangerous. We did a background check on her and found out that her father was one of the men that use to be on my team. He was one of the most trustworthy men I had ever met. Also, if she ever finds out about you guys and the decepticons I'm sure she would keep quiet, if she's anything like her father was."

I straightened up in shock. He knew my father? Also, what are the decepticons? Who are the person William is talking about and why couldn't I know about them? I pressed my ear even harder on the door, causing it to crack. I heard him pause quickly, saying that he had to go to the Ironhide buddy and shut his cell phone off.

Slowly, I opened the door and smiled at him. "Hey, you all settled in?" He nodded slightly and sighed. "Yeah, you know this is the nicest thing anyone has ever done for us and I know that I've said thank you enough but not paying you back doesn't seem right." Walking over to the table, I sat down and opened the book I had left there. "William," I began but he made a face. "Please, just call me Will. William makes me feel old." Laughing, I continued. "Will, I don't want anything….I don't like gifts, or rewards for that matter. I just really don't like people giving me stuff. It makes me feel bad for no reason. Also, if I have to call you Will, you have to call me Lena, is that fair?" Will smiled at me and began to leave the library. "Yeah, that's fair. I," he started but then there was a huge crash outside that rattled the house on its foundation.

I Raced downstairs with Will behind me and opened the front door. I stopped in my footsteps.

"Will," I said shakily. I felt my legs starting to become weak. "Why are there three giant robots fighting in my driveway?"

* * *

Okay, while writing this there was a huge rainstorm! Thankfully, this only took two days to write because I had lots of inspiration! Now I'm not sure when the next chapter will be posted but hopefully it'll be soon! If it wasn't for all the tests and assignments bombarding me on short notice I would have it done in like, three days probably. Well, I hoped you liked this chapter of 'Turning Wounds Into Wisdom.' So review and stay tuned for the next chapter!

Au revoir,

Taylor


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

"Oh shit, Lena, get back. Guys, come one, we have an ugly decepticon to help take down!" Will yelled at his men that I hadn't heard run up behind us. Though, can you blame me for not noticing? Right in front of me were three giant, metal robots _fighting_! This wasn't what I was expecting when I invited a group of soldiers to sleep at my house. I was sort of expecting some things broke; the refrigerator empty and loud voices, _not_ giant fighting robots!

I ignored what Will had said about taking cover and stayed in the doorway. I oddly wasn't scared after a couple of seconds, not at all. I just kept my eyes out for flying tree limbs, or whole trees for that matter.

Will looked back at me from where he was, holding a large gun that I haven't got a slightest idea where he had gotten it. "Maylene," He yelled while firing couple rounds at one certain robot, why weren't they shooting at all three? "Get out of here! It isn't safe for you! He could shoot his cannon anywhere. Run in the woods, now!" I could sense his panic and determination that had begun to set off some panic in me. I left to doorway quickly and as fast as I could, I ran towards the forest. But of course, with my luck, the canon blast one of them had fired landed some ways to my right.

I was blasted off my feet and everything was in slow motion. I was tossed carelessly through the air. Meanwhile, I could see one of the robots reaching for me but then one had tackled it on the ground. That was when I noticed a difference between robots.

Two of the robots had blue eyes while one of them had red eyes; piercing, red, evil eyes. The two robots had calm, peaceful blue eyes. The red eyes held a brutal, torturous look while the blue eyes held a strong determination.

That's all I could think of before I was slammed into a big pine. Pain laced through my stomach and I could have sworn that I heard a few cracks. Falling on the ground, I crumpled into a heap, not being able to hold myself up. I couldn't breathe, or I could barely breathe. 'I must have a couple of my ribs must be broke' I thought while trying miserably to get up.

"Lena, dammit Epps, watch where you point that gun, Lena!" I could hear Will yell over the uproar of shouts and explosions. I open my eyes but found that my vision was blurry. But I was still able to see the outline of shapes. I could see a figure coming towards me, trying to reach me. I assumed that was Will. "Will," I try to say but end up in a coughing fit, which brought me more pain than before. Black dots danced in my vision as the coughing began to cease. 'Yeah, definitely got some ribs broke.' I thought to myself and to my disgust, I whimpered.

I felt someone drop down quickly beside me and pulled me up in an up position, which was a bad idea for my ribs. I hissed and I could feel tears burn in the corner of my eyes. "Lena, thank god you're alright. The hit you took was enough for one of my men to get knocked out with a couple of broken bones." I tried to respond but I just moaned.

Thankfully, this time when I tried to open my eyes, they cooperated with me. The blurry vision was beginning to fade and I could actually see what was going on.

It looked like the two blue-eyed robots were winning against the red-eyed robot. Something was leaking profusely out of its stomach area and its movements were slower than the other two's.

With one last shot from the blue eyes, red eyes was down. One of the blue-eyed robots walked up to the red-eyed one and put what I think was a canon, up to his head. The red eyes raised its head and in its last moments, looked me in the eyes. My heart stopped in my chest as I realized one thing. This was the robot I had seen in the video. It was the robots who had helped with that 'terrorist attack' in Mission City.

It opened what I think was his mouth as if to speak directly to me but was then silenced by the deafening blast of the canon. Parts of its face blew apart and that strange fluid spewed everywhere. Its body then slid to the ground, its once red eyes black.

The two remaining robots somehow transformed their weapons into hands and turned around to face Will and me. "Will," To my shock the black one spoke with a slight English accent. "Is the Femme well? Ratchet would not like to have to fix another human. He will probably wield my aft to the ceiling of the med bay."

Beside me, Will laughed. "Well Ironhide, you're screwed. I think she got a couple of broken ribs, explains her breathing patterns." This is Ironhide? That's the person Will was talking to?

A sudden quietness engulfed us all, including the two robots. I decided this was the perfect time to get my words in. "Will," I rasped quietly, but loud enough for everyone to hear. "What the hell. Is going on? Why are there giant robots on my lawn? " I had to pause in between the sentence to catch a short breathe, my sides aching.

"Huh, well…" Will trailed off while rubbing the back of his neck. "There are a couple more things we didn't tell you about out stay." I snorted but then groaned at the statement. "Yeah, you didn't think it was important to tell me that you were bringing giant robots with you to my home?"

The silver robot shifted a little and growled. "Listen here fleshling, we are not robots. We are Cybertronians. Cy-ber-tron-ians." It drawled out the last word as if to speak to a baby or an extremely idiotic person.

My anger flared at his words. "Well I'm sorry, Mr. Cybertronian, you didn't just meet a whole new race or whatever you are by having to witness a fight in your front yard!"

It growled and started to stomp towards me. "Why you…" I probably would've been mush between his feet but the other robot 'Ironhide' stopped him from doing so.

It was pretty quiet after that…Will was checking my ribs and seeing if I had any other injuries while the rest of his team were gathered around talking to the two robots. That's when I remembered the garden. "Holy crap!" I screeched, ignoring the pain in my chest. Beside me, Will jumped at my sharp voice. "The garden is destroyed! What am I gonna tell my Ma! She'll kill me!"

Will and his men looked around at the damage. The man, Epps, I think, starts laughing. "Oh shit…from what I know about women she's gonna have your head. You're dead."

He probably would've kept going on but he trailed off under my hard glare. All of the men cringed back. I guess it's the look combined with my roughed up body.

"Thanks," I reply sarcastically, picking dirt out from under my nails. "That makes everything so much better. You know, she'll probably just make you guys clean and remodel it."

The eyes of Wills men widened and they stepped back. Epps looked especially horrified. "Hey, we didn't do the damage, Ironhide and Sideswipe did! They have to fix it up!"

I look over at the two and shake my head. "No, you guys have to do it. They'd just destroy it more than it already is." Ironhide, made a sound that was like a snort. "The femme is right. We would just make it look worse. I don't think I would, but Sideswipe here would probably take the house down." Sideswipe noticeably straightened up and huffed angrily.

"Oh please Ironhide, I think we all know who would do better. Remember when you destroyed Sarah Lennox's yard and tried to tidy it up for her? You actually thought firing your canon at the ground would tidy it up. You just blew siding off her house too."

Ironhide turned around and to my surprise, punched Sideswipe straight in the face. "I didn't take off any siding," he, I'll just call him a he, grumbled while walking away. "It was the eavestrough." I snorted which caused me to groan, a constant throbbing was starting to grow in my sides and it was starting to get the best of me.

Ironhide who wasn't that far called back to us. "I messaged Ratchet; he is on his way to reach the femme. Though I warn you, this is one of those days where his mood is twice as foul." All the soldiers made faces and started to go back inside the house while I and Will stayed out by the tree.

"Ratchet…is it another Cybertronian?" Will nodded and picked me up, being careful of my ribs, I hissed anyways. "Yeah, Ratchet is an Autobot. Don't let your first meeting of him judge him right away. Behind that scary old bot is a little child. You should have seen when we gave him a new med bay for Christmas! He was jumping around like a two-year old listing off everything he had to do! It was a hilarious sight. It was one of those rare moments where Ratchet isn't a hard ass." I raised my eyebrow at the description of the bot. "Also, they have gender, mechs and Femmes. If you call one of them it you will become an 'it' splattered on the floor."

He must have seen my eyes widen drastically. "No, no! They won't squish you on the floor, they _can't_ is what I'm trying to say. They protect sentient beings, they don't hurt them." Relieved, I sighed as he lowered me on the couch.

I began to panic as I realized that Jay wasn't home and it was around seven. But then I remembered that he was sleeping over one of his friends houses tonight. Also, to my relief, my Ma told me she was working _late_. I know her definition of late is sleeping in her office the night, then coming home for breakfast and leaving again.

I heard a vehicle pull up to the front of the house. Actually, I heard multiple vehicles. All their engines turned off and then there was a strange sound, the sound of metal on metal but not in a violent way. "The Autobots must be here." I thought to myself. Wait, Autobots? Aren't they the people Will was talking to on the phone? Wait, how can giant robots even talk on phones? Do they have mega ones? I snorted out a laugh imagining them talking on giant phones and Will looked at me weirdly. He must think I'm delusional or something.

The front door shut and the sound of footsteps fled through the house. Before I could ask will who it was, two men were in the archway of the living room.

The first man was roughly five foot eleven and had a good build from what I could see. He had a sharp jaw with dark stubble and if you looked close enough you could see there was a light scar on his left cheek. Not that it stood out a lot. He also had dark, dark brown hair, close to black along with somewhat thick eyebrows. He looked in his forties. When I looked at his eyes, I froze.

Never in my life had I saw the colour. It was a bright, extremely bright blue. It seemed close to a baby blue but darker. What scared me so much was that _I_ have that same colour. The man looked just as intrigued as he looked into my eyes as I did when I looked at his.

The man beside him was, how can I describe it? Oh yeah, _huge._ Not like fat huge, but height and build huge. I have to say the he was at least six-foot five, six-foot seven, if not more. He had jet black hair and like the other, a sharp chiseled jaw, just not so defined. He had a big build. Like a soldier or something. And just like the other one, he had the same eyes. When he looked into mine, he turned his head towards the other man, looking troubled.

They both walked towards us and stopped in front of us. They both nodded at Will but didn't even take a glance to me, I felt offended.

"Optimus, Ratchet," Will greeted them both and I was slightly confused. Wasn't Ratchet an Autobot? Optimus sound like a pretty Autobot-y name also. "Lennox, it's good to see you again after all this time. Let's say, after I'm finished with the Femme I could give you your monthly exam?" 'Ratchet' said to Will and surprisingly, Will have paled. "No thank you Ratchet, I've already had it. Jason did mine." The man, I'll call him for now, sighed.

"Alright, but you humans don't do thorough enough checkups. I've found so many problems in you humans that your so-called 'doctors' haven't picked up on! So, if you want to risk getting terribly sick, be my guest."

Will smirked and nodded. "I think I'll take my chances." The man growled and shook his head furiously, "You humans, so ignorant, so….annoying." He then turned to me and stared for a good minute. I shifted uncomfortably under his gaze, wincing at the tightness around my sides.

"So you are the femme I have to tend to. What is your name?" I couldn't find my voice for a couple of seconds. They were both so intimidating. "Maylene Vaughn, sir." I said quietly, almost inaudibly. I could see his mouth twitch for a moment, like he was going to smile. "I'm impressed, Will. The first patient I've ever treated on this planet that treated me with respect. We've gotten off to a good start Maylene."

I breathed a laugh, I was finding harder to catch my breath with every passing minute. Also there was a stabbing feeling in my sides "Please, call me Lena sir. Also, I don't mean to be rude but, I thought you were…. a Cybertronian?"

He nodded thoughtfully and answered my confusion. "Yes, I and Optimus are both Cybertronian. However, when we have to interact with humans, we use our holoforms. A projection of a human that is solid so we can actually perform tasks with them."

For some reason, they both looked at each other alarmed and Ratchet rushed forward. I then felt something drip down the side of my mouth. Reaching for it and wiping it on my hand I noticed that it was blood.

The look on my face was probably priceless because for the first time, I fainted.

* * *

Thanks for everyone who tuned in to read this chapter! I want to give a special thanks to Noella50881. Thanks for reviewing, it means a lot to me! I can't remember if I told you guys in the previous chapter that I will be updating every Thursday. If so, let this be a reminder! I don't like the length of this chapter it all. I think it's too short. Next time I'll give you a longer chapter and I'll begin actually introducing Autobots and Decepticons. Please review! They make me want to continue!

- Taylor


	5. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

I was floating in darkness, but I felt aware of where I was, even though I wasn't. It was an extremely weird feeling. But it's better than the feeling of not being able to breathe. But do you know what was very strange? It felt as if I was being held in a blanket, warm and safe.

I haven't felt like this in….forever. Really, I've never felt like this before. I guess the saying is true that nothing good lasts forever because as soon as I was given the warmth it was taken away from me.

_"Maylene Vaughn. Child of Vaughn, welcome to my realm youngling." _An ancient voice thundered around me. It was powerful and full of authority. It was the kind of voice that you would bow down to in respect. "Who are you? I'm asleep, aren't I?" I heard him chuckled, if I could see myself I would be stumbling on my feet from the vibrations of his deep, bass toned voice.

_ "I will not tell you my name. That is of no importance. Right now, I have very limited time with you. I intend to make the most of it."_ I was about to speak but the voice cut me off.

_"I am here to tell you that you are doing wrong, you are intervening into a situation that was never yours to fall into. I will not prevent you from doing so, but I will give you a precaution. Terrible things will happen whether or not you continue. This is your decision to make." _There was a cold hand on my shoulder, and then I was pushed into an abyss.

You know that falling sensation you sometimes get and then wake up? Yeah, I hate them too. I jerked out of unconsciousness and groaned at the tightness around my ribs. Looking around, I found that I wasn't home; I was in a room I haven't seen before in my life.

It was small; a magazine in the corner on a table, with a small packet of soup crackers, like those hospital side tables. Everything was also so _white._ Not white, but the sterile kind of white. It's like being in a laboratory. Except the crackers and magazine ruins the image. The bars in the window remind me of the movie Wrong Turn 4, a movie that I swore to forget as soon as I finished watching it.

I noticed I was hooked up to an IV that was on a transportable stand so I slowly got up, ignoring my protesting ribs and walked around. There wasn't much to see in the room, it was so bland. I decided to take a look out of the window to see if it gives me any idea of where I was.

Carefully maneuvering around the bed, I stood in front of the barred window and looked out, shock overcame me. I thought I would see the yellowing trees of my home town, but I was wrong. There were multiple military cars and one huge plane, which people were being loaded with vehicles and people, _soldiers_. I then realized I was on a base, a _military base_! Of all things! With that one sentence, the events of yesterday came down on me.

Did I really let five men sleep at my house? Did they actually drive there inside _robots?_ I shook my head and slowly stepped back to the bed. My head must have been messed up yesterday. Sitting down on the edge of the bed, I placed my head in my hands. Why did my life always screw up? Or more so…why do I always screw up my life?

I thought about what had happened. I was running for the woods when I heard a canon go off and I was blown into the air. I froze. The black one 'Ironhide' was the only one that had a canon. Well, I'm not sure but the red eyes canon made a different noise. A more muffled boom…..that bastard! He shot me! The black one shot me!

I snapped my head towards the door, causing it the throb steadily. The door knob turned and a man walked in who wore an overcoat….a doctor overcoat. It was Ratchet.

"How are we feeling today Ms. Vaughn?" I was tempted to give him an uppercut. Doctors and that stupid question. You're clearly not fine if you're in a hospital.

"Just peachy…" I mumbled and stared at the floor. Why am I acting like this? I was almost blown apart by Ironhide and I'm scared of a medic? He seems pretty nice, friendly even. I don't know what Ironhide was saying when Ratchet was in a worse mood than usual.

Ratchet looked confused. "You feel like a fruit? I don't understand…" I snorted out a laugh, muffling it with my hand. I forgot. He mustn't know figurative speech.

"It's a figure of speech. It means I'm fine," I whispered quietly. He nodded in realization. He seemed embarrassed that he didn't know what it meant but he concealed his emotions pretty good. But even the best poker face can't fool me.

"Okay, that's good. Your ribs will ache for a while. A week and a half is how long the throbbing usually lasts. Well, for the soldiers I treat. I'll get William Lennox for you now." Before I could protest he was out the door. And before I could lie down, Will barged through the door.

"Hey Lena, how are you feeling?" Will said happily while fixing his jacket. Once again, I had an urge to roll my eyes.

"Just fine, I only almost got blown up by an alien robot that happens to want to rule the earth," I drooled sarcastically. Will's face fell.

"Listen Lena,"

"You never thought that it was important to tell me that along with five men sleeping under my roof is a giant metallic robot?! Not one, but two?" Will was about to say something but another man walked in. "Will," he said gruffly and I immediately knew who he was.

"And you! You almost blew me up like a rag doll! Aren't you guys suppose to protect us?!" Ironhide stopped in his tracks and froze, turning to me. Anger sparked up in his eyes.

"Why you insolent little brat; I should have blown you up the first chance I got." I wanted to flinch at his tone, but no way did I want to look weak in front of this trigger happy robot.

"There! There you go again talking about blowing up humans! Are you sure you're not the bad robots?!" I saw Will's body stiffen at the words I had said.

Ironhide was livid. What scared me the most was that his eyes had began to turn red instead of my bright blue. He roared and began to charge. If I could see my eyes they were probably bulging out of my head.

"Ironhide!" I heard Will cry in panic, I could also hear footsteps running down the hall. People must have heard.

I was pushed roughly up against the wall, my head smacking the jet rock and making a dent. I could already feel bruises beginning to form on my shoulders from his tight grip. A mixture of blues, yellows and purples.

He looked much scarier up close than a few meters away. I could imagine him as a rabid bear. Drooling around and hopping on two legs at prey. I snorted in laughter, and winced when he slammed me harder. It seems that Ironhide was the one that had the bad attitude than Ratchet supposedly does.

"You think this is funny, femme? We protect your planet and all we receive is disrespect. Your species are heavily ignorant." He rumbled angrily and I deemed to follow.

"I'll show you respect when you learn how to confront me without using a canon to blow me up!" I snapped at him and wriggled to try to get free. I could see his eyes flare up once more and started to panic.

"Ironhide, stand down." I twisted my head over to the voice and saw that it was the man who stood by Ratchet when I was last awake.

Ironhide growled, or rumbled. Whatever it was and tightened his grip around my shoulder. To my disgust it made me whimper.

"Ironhide let the femme go! She is already injured as it is." Ratchet, who I never noticed, stepped up onside on Lennox.

Something flashed in Ironhide's eyes before he let go. And before we could say anything he was out of the room.

Ratchet rushed over, I felt something run over me, and I shuddered. It left a prickly feeling afterwards. Ratchet sighed and shook his head. "There will just be a couple of bruises. You are very lucky you did not say anything more than what you did, if you did you would have ended off worse."

Slowly, he helped down on the bed. When he did, he turned around at the man he had been with the other day, or when, and nodded. The man stepped forward.

"Maylene Vaughn, I am Optimus Prime, leader of the Autobots. We are Autonomous robotic organisms from the planet Cybertron. It is very unfortunate to have met you in such circumstances. I was hoping it would have been better."

I was at loss for words, so I just nodded. I was sitting in front of the leader of an alien race? What was I suppose to do? Bow down? Say a greeting? "It's a pleasure to meet you?" It was too late anyways.

Optimus Prime seemed use to this type of meeting and nodded as well.

"It seems that you are much unaware of what is going on. I think it would only be fair to inform you and not 'leave you in the dark,' as humans say." I nodded and quietly said. "That would be nice."

For some reason, Ratchet and Optimus froze. I looked at them in confusion. What was going on?

Once they both realized what they were doing, they resumed the conversation.

"Okay, it is settled then. After you consume your meal Captain Lennox will bring you to me. Then I shall then tell you everything you would like to know." Like Ratchet and Optimus, I froze. Me. Alone with a giant robot that could blast me to pieces whenever he wanted to? No thanks.

"Okay." I said shakily, I mentally punched myself for showing such weakness.

"William, would you be kind enough to Show Maylene towards the Cafeteria?" Optimus asked, tilting his head to the side. Will looked up at him and smiled.

"Sure thing, Boss, though how many times have I told you to call me Will?"

"You have ordered me to do so ten times. But I do not deem to do so because it is informal during work hours." Without saying anything else he walked out of the room. Will sighed and rubbed the back of his head. I decided to try to break the ice.

"Is he always this socially awkward?" Will smiled at that and shook his head.

"Majority of the time he is, but like Ratchet, he has his moments." I raised my eyebrow, wanting him to explain.

"I tell you later. Right now, let's get some food into you." He began to lead me out of the room when I called out to him. When he turned around I pointed to my clothes which were torn and bloody. "Can I change my clothes? I don't really want to go walking around like this."

Will chuckled, rubbing the back of his head and blushing. "Yeah, sure, the clothes are in the corner. The bathroom is outside the door across the hall." He mumbled, still rubbing his neck. I could tell he was awkward with women.

Thanking him, I retrieved the bag of clothes and walked quickly outside the door and across the hall. Entering the single bathroom, I emptied what the bag to see what it held. A pair of camouflage pants along with a white tank top. With that was a white bra and panties.

Carefully, I got dressed. I was careful about lifting my arms, worried for my ribs, so it took about five minutes to get both my bra and top on. I slowly lied down on the floor to get my pants on so I wouldn't have to bend over. Looking into the mirror, I was impressed. The clothes fit me perfectly. The bra was a little loose but other than that, perfect.

I brushed my fingers through my hair, attempting to get the tangles out, but failing horribly. So I just messed around with it until it looked like a decent hairstyle.

Looking in the mirror, I grimaced at my reflection. I was covered in dirt and grime. A few bruises were on my forehead from slamming into the tree. But other than that, my face looked pretty good. Using some water and soap, I washed all the dirt off with my hands, being careful in tender areas. I worked out most of the dirt under my nails and rinsed out my mouth. There was actually some bark from the tree I slammed in caught in by teeth. For a moment I felt like a beaver.

Looking at my reflection one last time to make sure I was presentable and went out opened the bathroom door. Will was standing outside across the hall. Smiling, he stepped forward.

"I never knew that one bathroom visit and a woman could come out a different person." He said while chuckling. "Did you have any trouble with your ribs?"

He mentioning them made me grimace. "Yeah, what happened anyways? What way are my ribs messed up?" I patted the wrapping around my ribs.

"You just have a couple of broken ribs. Well, I shouldn't say just because a few broken ribs can be a big deal. Anyway, the blood from your mouth was from when you hit the tree. You sort of cut your tongue. You mustn't have felt it because of an adrenaline rush or something."

We just stood there for a few moments in awkward silence. The kind of silence you never get use to. Will shifted and my gaze flew to him. "I guess we should get going to the cafeteria right?" I nodded and followed as he began walking in the direction Optimus had gone.

I just walked beside Will as he waved to other soldiers in the hall. Most women had the same outfit as me, which made me feel better. But not much better. I was on an army base for crying out loud! How the hell did I get here?! Why was I brought here?!

My thoughts were cut off by Will "We're here." He said happily and opened a swing door. My mouth dropped open. There were so many_ people_! Not only that, but giant robots too! Ones that were yellow, red, black, silver, blue, purple, pink, orange….so many colours!

"Hey Lena, you alright?" Will waved his hand in front of my face. I jumped, blushing when I did so. Stupid Lena, stupid! Never show signs of weakness, never!

"Yeah, just a little….overwhelmed if that's what you call it." He nodded in understanding and led me through the paths between tables, until we came to one. Sitting there were the four other soldiers I had taken in. There were lots of other men on the long table but they didn't seem to notice me or Will.

"Hey guys, what's up?" The men raised their heads, shouting greeting at him. Not in any particular order.

"Hey, Will!"

"What's up, Lennox!"

"Hey Lennox, you got Lena!"

I raised my eyebrows at how they called him by his last name. Maybe it's the way they address each other around base.

Everyone's attention was turned to me. I looked down at my feet quietly. I was never the one for crowds, especially large crowds that are staring at you. I could feel my palms getting sweaty, that's when I noticed that Ratchet must have also changed the bandages on my hands. He must have put a cream on it too because they were barely noticeable to me.

"Um, hi," I murmured to them all. Okay this is _totally_ overwhelming. "I guess you know my name is Lena?" They all nodded cheerfully.

"Yeah, but you don't know ours, that's very impolite. So hey, I'm Epps. This is Figgs," he pointed to a Spanish looking dude. "Across from me is ol' Johnny. He's new," I young man around twenty five or twenty six turned around and waved his hand. I nodded back, silently. "And….the other fellow is gone now. He'll introduce himself another time." I tilted my head in confusion but nodded anyways. I put on a fake smile no one could see through. "It's very nice to actually meet you all." They smiled in return.

"Well Lena, you can sit down and I'll get the grub," he gave me a cheeky grin and walked off towards a counter in the back before I could protest. Sighing, I plopped down into my seat. Why is everyone doing this stuff for me? It's so confusing. First I had no one to rely on ever since I was fourteen. And now I have all these people?

I ducked my head when I heard a crash from behind. I looked back into the large hall and saw two robots hitting each other; one green, the other red. I ducked my head down hoping they wouldn't notice a new person in the room. _Please don't see me. Please don't see me. _

"Hey looky here Skids, It's ah new femme sitting with Lennox's crew!"

Dammit.

"Hey you're right Mudflap, there's ah new femme in da house!"

I looked up and saw that they were less than a few meters away from me. Surprised, I fell out of my chair on the floor. All the men surrounding me started to laugh. Mudflap and Skids stayed the same distance away from me.

"Hi?" I squeaked, then cleared my throat.

"Hey we's da twins. I'm Skids and dis is mah ugly brother Mudflap." Mudflap growled and punched Skids in the arm, causing him to stumble.

"You stupid, we're twins!"

They began to jump at each other when a yellow one walked up, took them by the back of their necks and clanked their heads together. Then, he tossed them out into the vacant hall.

"Hey dude, that was rude!"

From what I've experience so far I've decided that this was going to be one hell of an interesting adventure.

* * *

I'm sorry I was late publishing this chapter but I was thinking a lot of what I had written over...I wasn't too sure about Ironhide's actions. Do you think he was a little too harsh, or way too harsh? Before you answer, there is a reason he was overly violent, you'll find out why soon. Probably in the next two chapters, possibly three.

Also, thanks for the reviews! I love getting positive feedback. To me, they're like a tub of hoof print ice cream! They make me happy :)

I hope to hear from you guys!

- Taylor


	6. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

"Hey Lena, you gonna eat the rest of your macaroni n' cheese?" My eyes snapped open from the day slumber I had rested in and nodded my head, taking a bite of my food in the process. I had half the urge chomp all the food down in five seconds it was that delicious. It took a lot of willpower, but I managed not to.

"Is something wrong Lena?" I turned my head to my side and Will was looking at me with concern.

Sighing, I shook my head. "No, everything's fine. I'm just thinking about everything that happened yesterday."

Smirking, Will nodded in understanding. "Yeah, it can be a handful to take in. I've been through almost the same thing as you, just a lot more violent." Tilting my head in confusion, I let it slide. I'll ask him about it later.

I still haven't gotten use to the Cybertronians walking all around me; it feels like some sort of dream, the dream where you hop on cotton candy clouds and swim in lakes of milk. But, this was no picnic.

One time I had decided to go up to the counter and get a glass of milk since I had already finished a glass before. I wasn't watching where I was going and ending up _almost_ getting directly under the foot, I mean, wheel. It would have run me over if it wasn't for the shout of terror I gave. This Cybertronian was different from the others. He apologized while another one which also wheels for a leg was calling me off. They seemed related but had a total personality difference.

After that incident Will run up, apologized to the two who were suppose to be 'Sideswipe' and 'Sunstreaker' then towed me back to my seat. It was pretty embarrassing to have just about everyone staring at my back. Some glares and some looks of amusement or pity.

So, now I just kept my eyes down at the table and went over memories in my head; memories of my friends and my family. My brain clicked. Panic began to seep through my veins.

"Will, what about my Ma and brother? What's gonna happen to them?" He placed a hand on my shoulder.

"Relax, Lena. I have it covered. You're now suppose to be in place of a friend for their student council meeting. I had them tell her that with all the work, you don't know how long you're going to be." I sighed in relief and shook his hand.

"Oh thank you so much, if you didn't do that for me I would be grounded till I'm thirty." He laughed and patted my shoulder. "Oh Lena, you never fail to make me laugh. Anyways, how old are you?" All the men looked at me.

"Well, I'm seventeen, turning eighteen next month." Will's eyes lit up. He clapped his hands. "Perfect! We'll have a good ol' fashioned birthday party for you!" I laughed along with all the other guys and we didn't think once about the weird looks we were getting from others.

"So, you guys are coming to my town again?" Will raised his eyebrows and shook his head slowly. "No, Lena, you'll probably be staying here for a month, maybe more. Our boss is making us do it. If we had a chance, we would let you go back because you're only a witness. But Galloway believes that Barricade wouldn't have showed up at your doorstep without a valid reason."

My heart dropped, a month, maybe more? No. I have to complete my last year of high school! I'll miss too much work! I'll get fired!

"Will, I have school! I have to send applications! I have to go to work or else I'll get fired!" Will's smile dropped.

"Listen, we can get you into college no problem. As for school, I'm not quite sure…" He trailed off as a loud thumping came up behind us. We turned around and saw Optimus Prime walking towards us. I guess he had gotten tired of waiting.

"William, Lena," He greeted us while kneeling. "I decided to walk around NEST quarters until dinner was over, but I came here to you instead."

Will nodded in return and I had to blink a couple of times before doing the same. How did I know that this was Optimus Prime? It was probably the sound of his voice, full of leadership and strength. Also, by his stance and the peaceful look in his eyes.

He was _huge_. Not like I said before in his human form, but the height of a house!

I couldn't estimate how tall he was but he stood taller than the rest of his troops. His painting really stood out to me. I don't know why it did, it seemed like some sort of déjà vu. Seeing his blue paint job and red flames were familiar. No to mention that it seems like I've seen them a million times before.

"Maylene, are you finished your meal? If not I will attend to other matters that need to be completed while I wait." I didn't really want to eat anymore and I didn't want to keep him waiting, so I nodded.

I tried to speak, but I ended up clearing my throat. I was probably coming down with the flu or something.

"Yeah, I'm ready." I spoke, trying to sound confident but failing miserably. I could hear my voice shaking.

"Very good then," He rumbled and put his hand out on the ground in front of me. It was probably the size of a small car. Or, it could grasp a car and throw it in the air.

I we just stood there, looking back and forth at each other. Then, Optimus Prime made a sound and nodded towards his hand and my eyebrows went to my hairline. He wanted me to go on his hand? No, no way in hell!

Slowly, I took a step backwards and shook my head. "No thanks, I'm not a big fan of heights…." I trailed off and looked into his eyes. They looked surprised for a moment but then went away as fast as it came. "Ms. Vaughn, I am not forcing you to climb on my servos, but it would be best to do for if you don't you would have to walk fast to keep up with me."

In my mind I could see him walking down the hall with me out of breath, speed walking behind him. I sighed and nodded. "Fine, but if I get sick it's not my fault."

He chuckled and stretched his hand out further, "Acknowledged."

Carefully, I climbed on his hand and grabbed tight to his metallic index finger. I could already feel the swaying of motion sickness.

Surprisingly, he rose and walked with much grace for a thirty-foot tall robot, which was the height I estimated he was. Also, he watched the floor to move out of any soldiers' way. If I was his size, I would be hopping around like there were mice all over the floor….and I'd probably crush a few in the progress. One other thing I noticed was how _casually _the soldiers were interacting with him. I don't understand how it's possible; how to act friendly to an alien that has traveled thousands of miles in space.

We both came to a stop in front of a large metallic door. There was no name on it, but a number and a large doorknob that reminded me of a miniature wrecking ball. He opened the door using the wrecking ball and my mouth gaped wide. _Everything was super-sized!_ Well, don't be stupid, I told myself. It's not like they would sit in our seats and use our desks. To them it's like Spongebob using mermaid man's shrink ray on the world, though I can just imagine them attempting to sit down on a sofa.

This room must be his office, I thought while staring all around. It's not everyday you enter a room big enough for the hulk to use.

In front of me were an extra large desk and a chair, strange-looking things like Ipads were packed up on top of one another? There was a super large window for him to look out of and a tall, Optimus Prime approved height bookshelf. The bookshelf also had those strange-looking Ipad things. It must be an equivalent of an E-reader or something.

Other than that, everything looked sadly empty. One day I'll have to give him an extreme makeover, office edition.

"This, Maylene, is my office, if you had not already guessed." He began as he placed his hand on top of the large desk, wanting me to get off. I jumped, landing with a dull thud on the mahogany desk. When I brushed my self off, he settled down into his own chair.

From there, it was extremely awkward. It seemed like Optimus Prime was pondering options of how to start in his mind while I was left fiddling my thumbs and looking down at the wood below me. Whoa, I feel like an ant. I heard a deep, short laughter and looked up to see him smiling. Man, I said that out loud.

"I said that out loud, didn't I?" My faced heated up and I brushed my dark thick hair out of my eyes.

With another quick chuckle, my nodded then looked down at the pad he was holding in his hands. "Yes, you did. Though there is no need to be embarrassed. Many soldiers often share that thought aloud. I am not offended by the statement, if that is what you thought." I relaxed slightly. At least he was easy going, unlike some around here.

After that laugh, Optimus Prime seemed to have gotten back on track.

"Maylene Vaughn, I am terribly sorry that you have been brought into such an unpleasant event in our time." I tilted my head in confusion. "What do you mean, unpleasant time?" He sighed and pinched his fingers on the bridge of his nose. Such a human action, I thought, then listened intently.

"I and my troops come from the planet Cybertron, a planet that your race has yet to discover. We are an old race. I, myself is older than the beginning of your dating systems. I was created before the war which has lasted many millennia's." My mouth dropped a little at that, but he continued, ignoring my actions. "We knew peace very well and lived in harmony until the war in which we are now fighting cam along. I was aged enough to take part in the war in its highest climax. That was when I earned the title Prime. At first, it was the battle for energon, our life source. But then Megatron wished to rule Cybertron with his army; the decepticons." My head snapped up at the familiar word and interrupted him, to my displeasure.

"Barricade was a decepticon?" His metal brows clinked together in a frowning position. "How do you know of him?"

"William told me about him. He was the one that attacked outside my house, wasn't he?" He didn't really respond, he only nodded then continued.

"Our world was not biologically produced, like your planet is. Ours consisted of different alloys and its life source was the Allspark. The Allspark was the keeper of Cybertron; it was the one thing that made us able to bring sparklings into the world, our definition of an infant. It was also the hold of offlined Cybertronians" I was going to ask what happened but he beat me to it.

"One day we had no choice but to send the Allspark off into space, hoping that we could on day find it once the war was over. The Allspark later became much more needed when our planet was destroyed after millions of years in war. So much violence had turned our world into nothing more than rubble."

I was speechless at his words. "I'm sorry," was all that was capable of stumbling out of my mouth. Optimus Prime had given me a look of gratitude but began his long story once more. This time, I didn't intervene. I found it rude to interrupt such a tragic story.

"Then we had the trouble of finding the Allspark and bringing Cybertron back to glory. We had searched every planet and star and we began to lose all hope of our lives ever being the same again. But, me and my troops had found one last planet, and this one, thank primus, inhabited the Allspark, also known as the cube."

"We had rushed to get there before the decepticons, but we were already too late. We battled, and the Allspark was destroyed, lost to the raging storms of war."

We both just remained as we were for a couple of minutes until Optimus Prime vented and placed the pad on his desk. "Is there any questions you would like to ask?"

"Yes, there is, if you wouldn't mind. It's only a few." More like a million.

He nodded at me to continue.

"How many of you are there?"

He cleared his throat, or it sounded like it, and said, "Nineteen."

"Do you guys have any girls on the team?"

"Yes, we have two at the moment. Their names are Arcee and Elita-1. There was another but she was offlined in battle not too long ago." A frown came upon his features and a look of remorse also clouded his usually relaxed expression. Even his eyes seemed to darken.

"Oh, I'm sorry for asking…" I trailed off, looking at the floor.

"It's quite alright, but if you don't mind, I have some work I have to finish up on my data pads."

I nodded, I knew my expression was crestfallen and that he noticed, but I didn't care. I always ask stupid questions and never think how it would affect people. My Ma was right, I'm an ignorant brat.

He stretched out his hand and after I got on, he placed me on the floor. I walked quickly to the door onside of the large door. I opened it and as fast as I could, stepped out.

"Maylene," he began to say. But before he could I slammed the door and ran down the hallway to wherever it took me.

XxX

Stupid, Maylene Victoria Vaughn, stupid! You shouldn't ask any questions, it only leads to no good! I yelled to myself mentally while walking through to empty hallway. It feels like I've walked around for almost an hour and I still haven't found someone who could give me directions to my room.

I thought that maybe everybody had gone outdoors for work or something, but I began to doubt it when I looked out windows that were placed in halls. I looked at room doors and noticed those name numbers and strange symbols in under it; a different language that reminded me of Japanese. I realized that this was probably the residence side of the base, if there was one.

I continued to walk along the wide, tall halls and went around many corners. It felt like a maze in a corn crop I took once. I never got out until the next day. Thankfully that day was the hottest day ever recorded in the fall so the night was warm. I just slept in a hay stack in a corner. The farmer that hosted it took me home after he found me that morning.

I decided after probably an hour of walking around, I was lost.

So, I just sat down against a wall and waited for someone to walk by to ask for directions.

It felt like another hour until I heard the sound of metal feet and regular human feet pounding on the floor.

"Hey, Lena" I heard someone yell. It sounded familiar…

It's Will!

I hopped up on my feet and saw him running towards me. He stopped in front of me, breathing hard. "Where the hell have you been? We've been searching for you for two hours! We didn't think you'd be in the Autobot's quarters!"

"I'm sorry Will; I never knew which way we came. I just went in a random direction. Trial and error…I guess." He shook his head and sighed. "Why didn't you ask Optimus?"

I pursed my lips and thought for a moment. "He had something very important to read, so I didn't want to interrupt him or be rude or anything…" Trailing off, I just noticed that Autobot who had came along with Will. It was Ironhide. I nodded at him in some form of greeting. He grunted and looked away out the window. Wow, how very welcoming, I thought. Well, I did insult him, didn't I? I guess I deserved to be ignored, even if we weren't really friends, or acquaintances for that matter.

"Well, you could have asked him for directions, I think he would rather give you directions than it is his own fault for you getting lost." I felt a flash of guilt in my heart and it was gone the second after. I nodded and leaned my back against the wall. "I know…but it I'm use to these types of things. My Mom doesn't like me interrupting her or anything. My step dad didn't either. I got use to being independent."

Will frowned and what looked like concern appeared on his face. "You're use to it?" I was in a state of shock at his expression. I never received that look. It was a stare a father gives his daughter. I could immediately that he was a father to a child. Jealousy coursed through my veins at the child. They have such an amazing father when I've never met my real one and I had a crappy step father who treated me like a dog and died from drunk driving.

"Yeah, though it's alright. It's no big deal. My Mom told me to become independent so I could do more things for myself. This way she could get more work done at her office." I shrugged and fiddled with my thumbs. I knew he wouldn't drop it there.

"Lena, how old were you when she said that?" Dammit, now I knew he would never let off on the discussion.

"Um….when I turned seven..." I muttered. Will cursed and ran his hand through his hair.

"Lena, a child should never be treated like that. Their parents should slowly make them become independent but they shouldn't just drop it on them and leave their children to fend for themselves. That's abuse, Lena."

I swallowed hard and without and doubt they heard it. Ironhide shifted his place. "Will is right, femme. Even if I dislike you, you shouldn't have been treated such a way as a sparkling." Shifting my position, I took a long, hard breath, it hitched in the progress. Will and Ironhide seemed to notice that they had hit a sore spot. "Lena," Will said quietly. He took a small step forward and reached out his hand to place on my shoulder. I stepped to the right and avoided the physical contact. Will seemed hurt by the action.

"Look guys, it's fine alright? I know I had a crappy childhood. No need to rub it in. Shouldn't we get going?" I stopped there because my throat had begun to clog up. I could feel my eyes beginning to mist up. Don't cry, don't cry, don't cry, I chanted to myself internally. Thankfully, they didn't notice me being emotional. If they did, they hid it well.

"No, we don't. Though I guess we could introduce you to the Autobots, right Ironhide?" My heart stopped in my chest and I looked up into the robots face. Meet all of them? No thank you, I've seen more than enough; one who is trigger-happy, one who is egotistical, two twins who scare the shit out of me, and a hard ass. Yeah, I think I've met enough Autobots to last a couple thousand years.

"I think that is possible…" Ironhide drifted off slowly and shifted on his monster sized feet. "Many are gone out on a mission, Mudflap and Skids included, thank Primus. So I believe that this would be the best time.

I decided that it was my time to speak up. "Uh…I wouldn't want to interfere with anyone's day. I have a bad tendency to give people bad luck." Will chuckled, as did Ironhide.

"Then you _have _to meet Wheeljack."

0o0o

I'm so happy I got this one written on time! I'm sorry if I messed up on the history of the war, I not very accurate with using things that deal with that stuff. Anyways, you can message me if I put down information that was inaccurate or totally off. I'll then edit it and make a better and happier reading experience. Also, thank you darkpoisonivy and Guest for reviewing, it means a lot! I'll try my hardest to update Thursday next week.

Please review, they're like Halloween candy! I'm not demanding you to do so, but it's encouragement for me to continue!

Thanks!

- Taylor


	7. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, now let's go."

"Are you really sure?"

"Lena, suck it up! Let's get going."

I felt like a cat being dragged towards a bath, utterly furious and tortured. Remind me after this that I won't force my cat, Kitty (my brother had a big imagination when he was three), to ever get a bath. She can continue to roll in catnip all she wants.

I struggled to get my wrists out of Will's strong hold. My shoulders were already killing me before this, but now it's unbearable. "Will, you're hurting me." He loosened his grip and I began to run for it. I may not be very fit, but I could out run Will any day. It was Ironhide that worried me.

"Lena!" Will cried and began chasing for me. I could hear Ironhide's feet clanging against the floor too. Slower than Will's.

I came to the door to the cafeteria and went to open it, when a large hand wrapped itself around me. I sighed and went limp. Ironhide chuckled and placed me in his hand like Optimus had done, but he did in a way that reminded me of a familiar gesture of a father. "Got you youngling," he grumbled and went back to Will who was leaning against the wall.

"Holy shit, Lena. How can you manage to run so fast? Are you on steroids?" Will yelled at me, surprised and sore about how I could beat him in anything. I shrugged and shook my head.

"No, unless jogging everyday counts? I've always been a naturally fast runner. My gym teacher wanted me to sign up for track, but it's not my thing."

Will grumbled incoherently under his breath and stalked further away from me and Ironhide. "Is he a sore loser?" I whispered to Ironhide, looking at Wills figure disappearing around the corner. He chuckled and nodded his head. "He is many times, but particularly with femmes." I frowned.

"How is it different to be beaten by a girl?"

"You femmes seem to be weaker than mechs, so it is humiliating when a femme such as yourself wins against a mech like Will."

"Hey! There is no difference between men and women, mechs, femmes, whatever! We have equal strength; we just don't use it as much. Also, men tend to work out more than women and women have to take care of children."

"And that is the reason. You femmes do not take care of your physical strength so you are weak in times of absolute need."

"We are not! Brains can come in handy more than brawn any day! I bet that we could get out safe in an attack and you guys would just get yourselves killed!"

"That's ridiculous. I have been on the battle field many millennia's and have I yet to escape from captivity harmed."

"So really, you just admitted that you guys aren't the brightest crayons in the box."

"No, I did not."

"Yes you did."

"No."

"Guys, come on! You guys are fighting like an old couple!" Will yelled impatiently, leaning against the wall at the corner we were coming to. I snorted and crossed my arms while Ironhide growled. "Watch it," he countered before continuing to wherever we were going.

Ironhide and Will acknowledged many people as we walked back into an area of civilization. I found it highly uncomfortable because Will introduced me to almost everyone he talked to. Though all of them seemed to avoid Ironhide's gaze like it was a plague. They were either gravely intimidated or terrified of him. I'd say a little of both. Those huge canons can make anyone cringe any day.

What bothered me some was that Ironhide didn't even seem to care what they thought. It almost seemed like he was accustomed to their reactions.

"So," I began shifting my weight to even out my balance. "Where are we going?"

"We're going to the recreation room. That is where all we Autobots relax as well as humans." Ironhide stated, opening a door to reveal roughly forty people and Autobots, probably more. They were all talking, 'bots' and humans alike.

I noticed the silver bot messing around with Epps around a mega couch. "Aren't you guys scared that you'll crush us or something if you horse around too much?"

Ironhide snorted. "Femme, we only 'horse around' with you humans as long as we think it is safe. Sideswipe, however, does not seem to know when to stop." We both glanced over at the pair to see that Sideswipe was hanging Epps in the air by his feet. I could see Epps' face starting to go a little green.

"If Sideswipe doesn't want vomit on his face, he better stop, I can practically see Epps urging."

Ironhide didn't answer but I could see the slight turn of his mouth, the signal of a semi-smirk. Oh dear. I can tell that this won't end well.

We stayed where we were and watched Sideswipe flip Epps around and with each flips his face turned paler. Sideswipe seemed to notice this and stopped, placing Epps on his hand, "Hey Epps, why are you lookin' so pale?" He got an answer alright, when vomit flew all over his palm and seeped through the plating on his hand.

The look on his face was priceless. His eyes were huge. I estimated that almost all the people had stopped talking; Autobots included, and stared at them, eyes wide. Then, the whole room erupted in laughter. I could see Epps' face returning colour, but instead, it came back red.

Speechless, Sideswipe placed Epps on the couch and walked slowly away, out of the room. The yellow one that was with him earlier this morning, Sunstreaker, was smirking. "And that, is why I don't like these humans, they purge fluids after enduring fast movements." A red Autobot onside of him nodded slowly, remaining silent. He didn't seem very social. Sunstreaker nodded at him, and the red bot left to go somewhere else. I was confused at first, but then realized they probably had a communication system. They _are_ advanced non-biological metallic people.

Much to my displeasure, that's where Ironhide and Will took me first.

"Hey, Sunstreaker, how's it going?" Sunstreaker's head snapped towards us, he zeroed in on me and glared. "What's the fleshling doing here? Doesn't she have somewhere else to be? Maybe being questioned by Galloway or something?" Lennox stiffened beside me.

"No, Sunstreaker, she doesn't have anything to do. So, we're introducing her to all the Autobots."

Sunstreaker chuckled. "Well most of us are gone; those remaining aren't in a very good mood."

"But Sideswipe seemed to be in a good mood."

"That was before Epps purged organic fluids on his servos. It'll take a while to get that smell from beneath those plates to go away."

I snorted and put my hand up to my mouth, trying to stop it from leaking out, but apparently it did, from the strange looks I got from the people around me. I could feel red beginning to brush across my cheeks and I looked down.

"Well, Sunstreaker, this is Maylene Vaughn, Maylene, this is Sunstreaker. There, you happy now?" I looked up at him and nodded, not trusting my voice in front of the intimidating Autobot. And he acknowledged me back. Will began to tow me away into another direction, opposite to him and we stopped close to another Autobot. With him he also had two people with him, like Sunstreaker did.

"Hey, Lennox!" I saw that a boy in the bots hand was waving towards us. The bot turned and zeroed in on me. His eyes lit up and he walked over to both of us, his feet bouncing as he went. It seemed like this Autobot was in a good mood.

"Hey Sam, Mikaela, this is Maylene Vaughn. She just arrived here yesterday. Well, she just woke up a couple of hours ago." The bot, that was yellow, let Sam get off his hand and walk towards me. Sam held out his hand and even though I didn't want to, I shook back. "Hey Maylene," Sam said and I cringed. "Please, call me Lena. I hate Maylene." He made a poor attempt of raising his eyebrows and nodded.

Then, the girl, Mikaela, walked up to me. Instantly I was filled with envy, she was _beautiful. _She had dark brown hair and tanned skin. Along with that she had dark brown eyes that completed her face. I wish I could be that pretty; I thought and shook her hand.

"Hi Lena, I'm Mikaela." I smiled at her and nodded, "Nice to meet you too." There was a whining sound and looked up at the yellow Autobot. "Oh yeah, sorry Bee. Lena, this is Bumblebee, he's a scout for the Autobots."

Bumblebee held out his pinky finger and I shook it, with two hands, "Nice to meet you, Bumblebee." His voice started to crackle and I tilted my head in a confused manner.

"Nice to meet you too, Lena." He managed to choke out before coughing. Sam sighed, frustrated. "Bee, Ratchet told you that you wouldn't get your voice back right away, it could take a year to get full use. Give it time." Bumblebee threw his arms up in the air and began making these noises that seemed like the human equivalent to complaining. I smiled as he stalk away, huffing. Unlike the twins, I knew I would have no problem getting along with him.

"Well, sorry about that Lena, he's had a rough week. Let's get going." We began to walk away when Sam decided to talk to Ironhide.

"Hey, Ironhide, what's up?" Ironhide growled and bent down to come face to face with Sam. "Boy, I still haven't forgotten what you and those twins did to me last month. Be grateful your charge is Bumblebee. If not, I would have s you stuck to the concrete of the NEST entrance." Same gulped and turned, walking away quickly.

"Will, what did," "don't ask," will interrupted me as Ironhide marched at catch up to us. "Stupid boy, if he wasn't a human I would have fried his aft with my canons by now." You know, I just realized how strange it is to be intimidated by Sunstreaker and not by Ironhide. Huh, Maybe I'm just scared of egotistical jackassery. Especially ones that want to squish you under their wheel.

We continued to walk on when I suddenly banged into something. I fell flat on my butt, causing the pain in my ribs to flare up. I carefully got back up and looked around; there was nothing around me to bang into. Ironhide sighed as we stopped where I had fallen.

"Mirage, show yourself," he demanded, and automatically, I felt a brief brush of air and suddenly there was a red leg in front of me. I jumped back, slamming in Ironhide's leg in the process and once again fell to the ground. I landed with a grunt and Mirage scoffed. "The human can barely stay on her feet." Did I detect a slight Italian accent there? I blushed and hopped back up on my feet, brushing my pants off in the process.

"Mirage, this is Maylene, she just arrived here so we decided to show here around and introduce her to all you guys." I held my hand out for him to shake, but he didn't even acknowledge me. He just took out with sword thing and began to examine it. Irritation flowed through me and I growled at how arrogant he seemed to be. For god sakes he was worse than Sunstreaker, and that was saying something! Ironhide must have sent him something through some internal communication because he stiffened up and leaned down. Disgustingly, he held out one of his finger very slowly and shook my hand. As quickly as our hands met, he pulled away. "Go somewhere fleshy, I have better places to be than here with you spreading your organic fluids all over the place." He began to walk away and ran up onside of him, keeping up barely.

"Excuse me; you don't have any right to speak to me in such a way. It would be the same as calling you a not sentient robot." I never noticed before, but when Autobots get angry, did you know their eye colour changes? Me neither.

When I saw his eyes beginning to seep in red around the edges, I immediately thought 'decepticon!' Will and Ironhide looked alarmed by the expression on my face and began to run forward as I grabbed for anything I could find and threw at him. It just happens that what I picked up was a crowbar. It hit his foot with a clunk and took some chunks of paint off in the process. His once half blue, half red eyes became a bright crimson, the colour of blood on a windshield on a sunny day.

"Flesh bag, you just ruined my paint job! I don't know why we don't all kill you, you're a worthless species." My chest froze and I took a step back and looked at Will.

"Are you sure he's not a decepticon?" I mouthed to him. I guess Mirage knew how to read lips and understood what I was saying perfectly. With a snarl, he began to lift his foot, which went right above me. Will shouted and began to run as fast as he could manage and I closed my eyes. Then there was a crash of metal against metal and I opened my eyes to see that Ironhide had taken down Mirage and was holding him in a wrestling position.

"Prime left me to deal with trouble makers, so I intend to do so. I'm commin' Prowl." Mirage seemed to go limp under his grip and was hauled up to his feet. He was forced to turn and face me.

"Now, before I give you to Prowl, apologize." It looked like Mirage's eyes narrowed and a snarl built up in the back of his throat. "Why would I do that, she called me a decepticon!" Ironhide raised an eyebrow, if they have eyebrows, at him and said, "I'll get permission from Prime to change your punishment."

Mirage's eyes narrowed into angry slits. "You wouldn't." Ironhide smirked, "You don't know me as well as other bots do around the base. I could paint you pink with a human dance tutu around you." Mirage turned his head sharply to me and said, "I'm sorry."

"Say it kindly."

"What?"

"Your audio receptors heard what I said, say it kindly."

Mirage smiled bitterly towards me that had me shuddering. "I'm dearly sorry for my actions, _señorita Lena_. Please accept my apologies."

I smiled sweetly back at him and he seemed startled at the calm demeanor I portrayed. "Apology accepted, Mirage. I will be looking forward to our future conversations." There was a clear of a metallic throat and Ironhide stepped out-of-the-way and a black and white bot appeared with something that looked like hand cuffs. This must be Prowl.

"Here you go, put the stasis cuff on him and throw him in the brig for a couple of hour until Prime comes back with the rest." Ironhide turned Mirage backwards for Prowl to place the 'stasis cuffs' on him and he noticed me.

"Ah…is this the femme you were speaking of when you had messaged me?" I shifted slightly under his gaze and nodded. He bent down to my level and held out a finger for me to shake. "Hello, I am Prowl, I am the communications officer of the Autobots," I took his finger and shook it.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Prowl. I hope this hasn't caused you any trouble?" He shook his head and placed the cuffs on Mirage then started to head down the hall.

"I guess he doesn't speak much to people?" I smirked at Ironhide and he cracked a small grin, though it was forced. I could see something was plaguing his thoughts. I decided that I would ask him later instead of ruining his entire day.

"So, is there anymore Autobots you want me to meet?" Will walked up to me and led me down a hall. "No, all the other bots are gone on a large mission." I got confused for a moment.

"So, why didn't they take Ironhide or Prowl?" Ironhide growled and his canons blared up. "The slagger didn't let me go. He said that I'm 'not healed enough' to participate in missions. So, I had to remain with Prowl. He sends reinforcements. Well, the only bots he can send is Sideswipe, Sunstreaker, Bumblebee and me. We're all recovering from battle injuries."

I made an 'oh' sound and became quiet, having the feeling that it wasn't a topic I should linger on. It seems that Ironhide is a poor sport when it comes to being left out.

So, we just lingered around and went back to the recreation room. There were still a few men lingering around. Luckily, the Xbox was free and me and Lennox (it was starting to grow on me) played Call of Duty, which was completely unfair since the only games I've ever played were Mine craft and Halo, and that was a long while ago. So, I had completely no frigging clue how to use the controls.

The game ended when I blew myself up.

"Crap," I growled and Lennox laughed, Ironhide did too. "It's not funny! Come on, you had way more of an advantage since you played it all the time before, this was my first time!"

"I'm sorry to say this Lena, but Prowl can do better than you at this game and he glitches out at least once a game."

"Who glitches out all the time?" We all turned around to see Prowl standing in the door way, holding a cube of something that was shiny and had a purple, silver, bluish tint to it.

"No one, want to play a game?" Will called out to him while turning the game back on and with me turned around looking at Prowl. I growled at him and tried to get back on track. Around the first corner I took I took a shot to the head with Will's character in front of me.

Playfully, I punched Will, well, not playfully. More like a frustrated 'I'm going to kill you punch.' It seemed to have some effect on him because he rubbed his arm, surprised at the blow.

"Come on Prowl. Just have a game! It'll be fun!"

Prowl sighed, "William, I will not take leave from my occupation to play a game with you."

"Well, do you want to play a game with me?" Prowl twisted his head at me and shook his head. "I just told William,"

"No, this game is extremely short and it's not a video game." I grinned and pinned up my hair into a bun.

"I suppose I can take a minute off of my work…" he trailed off and stared into space, like he's never cut off work before. I shook my head slowly, poor guy.

"Okay, we're going on a picnic and we each have to bring something. So, I bring mustard." Prowl made a strange noise that led to Ironhide smirking like Sunstreaker. "Okay, I will bring along a blanket." He said confidently.

"Nope, incorrect." Prowl looked flabbergasted. "But, I have read everything about human 'picnics'. They bring blankets along with them!"

"I'm sorry but that's not how it goes in this game. I'll bring a mandolin." Prowl twitches. "Okay, I will take along a bottle of ketchup." I smirked, "that's not right either. I'll bring along mangoes." It seemed that he relaxed a little. "Okay, I will take oranges." I shook my head. "No, you have to listen to what I'm saying and try to find what I'm doing. I'm bringing a moon pie."

"I will take a basket."

"No, I'll take mandarins." Will and Ironhide were watching intently now, which made it more fun since they were trying to hide their snickering.

"I will take money."

"No, hm... I'll bring a mutant, monster monkey."

Click.

I have to hop out of the way as Prowl falls face first into the floor.

Ironhide and Will bursts out laughing.

"What happened? I was only teaching him a game." Will snorted then answered my question.

"Prowl has a little problem of thinking beyond the logical. Mutant monkeys? They don't agree with his processor." I managed to let out a little laugh. Ironhide seemed to be thinking exactly what Will was.

"What was the objection of the game?"

I smirked, "You hade to bring something that began with the letter of your name."

We just stood there for a minute when I remembered something.

"What are we gonna do with Prowl?"

* * *

Well, Maylene never had very good encounters with the Autobots! I'm sorry it was a three-week wait; I got caught up in school and forgot. Also, one question:

Do you think Mirage was too….rude? Grumpy? Violent? Do you think I should tine it down and let him become more friendly? Or maybe in this one he just had a really bad day like Sunstreaker on a daily basis. I think that Mirage and Sunstreaker actually switched personalities in this chapter.

I try hard to be able to update again soon!

Taylor


	8. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

It turned out that only Ratchet knew how to rise Prowl back up into the land of the living. So, Ironhide commed Ratchet about the incident, who was out on the mission incase anyone got injured, and then brought Prowl into the Med bay and laid him down on a bed, or berth, as Ironhide calls it. I felt extremely guilty as we left him there, all alone. God knows what Sunstreaker and Sideswipe, who Ironhide told me were big pranksters, would do to him. If they paint him with glitter or rewire his voice modulator to be a girl, he would just glitch again. Over and over until it was reversed!

Not a lot of the bots felt up to company today. So that left Will, Ironhide and I to find something to do.

"Do you want to play cards?"

"No."

"Do you want to go outdoors?"

"Did you see what it's like out there? It's raining buckets." Will sighed and Ironhide's eyes dampened in confusion. "It's raining buckets? I don't think your human friends should be outdoors at such a time, they can receive serious head injuries." Oh Ironhide, you and your lack of knowledge of human sayings really bring out the good in everyone, except Galloway, from what I've heard. An idea popped into my head that just might work.

"How about we play I spy? Even though it's for little kids it can pass the time." Will's eyes lit up. "Sure! I play that with Annabel all the time! The little rugrat actually won!" I guessed that Annabel was Will's daughter the way he spoke of her, with such light in his eyes.

My eyes darkened as I came to envy her. I wish I had a father who loved me and spoke of me the way Will did. I guess some people just don't deserve a good life.

I and Will turned our heads to look at Ironhide, he shrugged. "I suppose it will pass the time…just don't tell the rest about this, they would taunt me to no end." His eyes darkened and he sat back into the large couch.

I must have a strange look on my face when I smiled; they both stared at me like I was a serial rapist of some kind. "Okay, I'll go first. I spy with my little eye, something that is green." Will frowned and looked around the room.

"I don't know the little button on the Xbox controller?" I shook my head. They would never get this.

"What about the words on your shirt." I rolled my eyes, "Will, did I look at my shirt while I was looking for something?" He rubbed the back of his neck, "No," He muttered quietly. I laughed and Ironhide seemed to brighten his eyes for whatever reason. "I know what it is," he announced.

I smirked, "What is it?" It seemed the whole time I had been a bit too egotistical, "The scratch of green paint on the door of one of the vehicles." At that point my eyebrows were probably raised to my hairline, you can imagine.

"H-how did you get that?" I stammered and blinked a few times.

"I am an autonomous robotic organism. I am advanced; therefore I have better 'memory' and can trace back your movements. Your pupils dilated slightly at the window, so I saw the green scratch and I assumed that was what you were looking at; since there's no green around here other than that.

Oh yeah, freakishly smart robot here. I forgot that for a moment, I actually forgot he was almost three-quarters the height of my house! How is it even possible to do so? Frowning, I stared off into space. I never noticed the looks of confusion from Will and Ironhide that was staring me right into the eye.

~.~.~

"_Mommy?" A little girl asked quietly as she walked along her mother in a hall somewhere in a mall. The mother looked down at her daughter with such love and pride, my heart ached, and tears welled in my eyes._

"_What dreams do you have Mommy? I have lots of dreams!" The mother smiled softly and whispered something into the little girl's ears. The mother must have said something either horrifying or amazing because the little girl's eyes widened._

"_Really? Like what?" The mother sat her and her daughter down on a close by bench closed her eyes. "Sometimes," she began, "I dream of one house." The girl cocked her head to the side in confusion. "A house? How's that a dream?" _

"_Sweetie, remember what I told you?" The girl nodded, "Sometimes there are bad people in the world that do bad things that are against the law. You don't remember your daddy but a bad man did something very bad to him. The bad man took daddy away." The little girl looked up to her mother; such innocence was in her eyes. "But you told me you should always apologize if you do something bad, mommy. Isn't the bad man supposed to say sorry? Then he can give daddy back!"_

_Tears welled up into the mothers eyes. "I wish it worked that way honey, but it doesn't. See, I dream of a house. The world is one single house. This house has no wars, no harsh words, no prejudice or discrimination. And we all live in it as one."_

"_Mommy, what happens in a war?" The mothers eyes already welled up with tears, began to slowly track down her face. People were starting to notice her now as they walked along. _

"_There are a lot of bad people; there are good people who get hurt by bad people. You will understand when you are older."_

"_Is that where daddy went?"_

"_Yes, that's where daddy went."_

~.~.~

I snapped out of my day-dream as Will shook my shoulders. "Lena, are you alright?" His concern was touching, but squeezed my heart and my throat began to feel like cotton.

"Yeah, I'm fine." My voice sounded muffled and cracked. Will's eyes softened. "What's wrong?"

Shaking my head, I took a step backwards. "Nothing, can you take me back to my room? I'm starting to get tired."

"Lena,"

"Please," I begged, knowing that he could force it out of me if he wanted to. He sighed and looked up at Ironhide, who had an unidentifiable look on his face, almost disturbed. He nodded sharply and walked ahead of us. Will took my shoulder and led me out of the room. He looked hurt when I quickly shrugged out of his grip. "Sorry," I muttered, knowing he would hear me.

We came up to the Med Bay, and they brought me to my room. We didn't exchange any words, or any words of parting. We just nodded at each other and separated.

I briskly shut the door and ran and dived into the bed. I screamed into the pillow my anger and the pain from my ribs on impact.

I didn't cry, nor did scream again; I simply stared into the darkness of the cotton pillow. The darkness brought me comfort in which words and memories couldn't. Of course the memories couldn't, they were the problem. Why couldn't there just be a pill that erased the memories you didn't want? Could empty spaces in your life be better than the painful memories? Or could painful memories shape you in which empty spaces can't?

There was a small flip calendar on the side table and I took a quick peek at it and saw that it was very close to Christmas. Excitement began to well up in my heart, but quickly deflated. "You'll be here for a couple of weeks, probably a couple of months," Will had said.

This is a sick joke. Where are the hidden cameras? Where's the show host that pops out of the closet and says "You're on America's best pranks!" But that's the thing. There is no prank, no host, nothing. All this is real, the realest anything can ever get.

So, let's get this straight. I'm in a military base, NEST, somewhere in the United States…or is it? I'm going to be staying here for a couple months in which I have no damn clue why? Also, I can't see my family for Christmas? This isn't a base, this is a prison. I could be here for life for god sakes!

There was a knock on the door but I ignored it, it was probably Will trying to stoop his nose into my feelings once more. He knocked on the door again and I flipped over, facing the ceiling. He just wouldn't leave me alone would he?

Without warning the door flew open, and standing there was the holoform of Ironhide, looking as troubled as ever.

I turned my back to him and stalked to the window, looking at the clouds starting to grey over. His boots clapped against the floor loudly and a hand dropped on my shoulder, roughly. He twisted the direction I was facing so that I was staring at him. When he realized what he was doing, he immediately dropped his hand.

"Listen femme, I'm no Optimus but I can tell when something is terribly wrong." I wiggled under his gaze and my eyes dropped to the floor. "Look at me when I'm speaking." He pushed my head from under my chin so that we were in unbreakable eye contact, which was extremely unnerving. "Tell me what's wrong."

"It's nothing," I murmured, directing my eyes away from his, "just a memory, that's all."

"Like slag." I jerked in surprise at the foreign swear word but continued avoiding giving him an answer. "Lena," his voice had lowered to a tone so soft, so gentle that it couldn't be him. "I know what you are feeling."

I clenched my eyes shut and breathed deeply. "You have no idea what I am going through." Although I felt brave, my voice was shaky, laced in with the leftover weakness of tears I had shed before.

"I have been through much more than you ever had femme. I have faced down armies of decepticons, slaughtered more than I can remember and care to remember. I have seen them brutally torn apart by Megatron himself. My friends, my family have been killed in cold blood, one even by the people he had been in charge to protect. We Cybertronians have a greater connection to family than you humans do. We form a familial bond. That bond can be broken willingly, or by death. Both are equally as painful. Not only do we feel grief of the loved ones we have lost, but the scorching pain of a severed bond as well."

"I'm…sorry. I guess I shouldn't act so bratty, should I?" With a weak laugh, I began to feel a headache coming on in my temples. Ironhide only grunted and stood in the place I had stood while standing by the window. For some reason, I scooted my feet over so that I was beside him. It didn't feel awkward at all. Outside the sky was starting to darken and the air seemed icy. Maybe there could be snow soon! I started to well up with excitement but then I remembered what situation I was in and I immediately dropped my shoulders.

"It's beautiful isn't it? Without the trucks and everything, it could really take you breath away." I got no response from that, I guess he wasn't into the deep nature talks.

"My father died when I was nine." Ironhide's head turned in surprise, "I didn't really know him when I was little, he use to be gone a lot; military business I guess." I don't know what happened to me after that, I just started spilling everything out.

"My mom always wanted to be formal to impress her coworkers, so she tried to turn me into a 'little woman'. When I went against her rules, she pushed me further and further away from her. My father didn't know anything, of course. He was always gone off on missions and stuff like that. When we got the letter that he was killed in action, my mom just…locked herself away from the world and ignored me and by brother. I ended up taking care of him for awhile when all my mom would do was lock herself into her bedroom and hold a picture of my dad."

We both just stood there for a minute. "I'm sorry," Ironhide said softly, not taking his eyes off the world outside. "I should not have forced you to tell me anything."

I shook my head fiercely. "No, you helped me get all that off my chest after, what, seven years?"

His mouth twitched and I could have sworn I saw a hint a smile dawning on his face. "Well, it's good to know that I was of good aid to you." I chuckled and went back on my bed. "You didn't just help me; you saved my life, literally."

His expression turned serious. "What? Lena…" "Are we allowed to go outdoors?" Ironhide growled at the interruption but didn't tell me off. "Yes, but if you do you need some bot to be with you. Decepticon attacks can happen at any time." He began walked towards to door and turned around. "Are you coming?" I frowned and tilted my head. "Where are we going?"

Ironhide exhaled and rolled his eyes. "Outdoors, you wanted to, didn't you?" I nodded eagerly and ran alongside him and found his vehicle form outside the door. His holoform disappeared and the front door of his form opened. I just stood there.

"Are you going to get in?"

"Uh…that seems awkward, I'll walk thanks!" I turned down the hall and walked towards the door. He rammed his bumper into my back which almost sent me flying. "Hey, what was that for?"

"What I said wasn't an option. Get inside me."

I shuddered, "I definitely won't now, that just sounded plain creepy."

"Lena, get in, now."

"No."

"Lena, just get in; it's only a three minute drive for primus' sake!"

"Nah, I don't feel like it. How about I attach a scooter to your rear bumper? That would be fun!" Ironhide growled and I jumped back a little.

"Fine, would it be better if you climb on top while I go 86 miles an hour?"

"Really?!"

"No, I am not a horse!"

"Ironhide," I whined, he opened the passenger seat door once more.

"Get in, now. Before I comm. Ratchet and make him give you a two-hour long lecture on the evolution of Cybertron." Immediately, I hopped inside him and we took off.

We whizzed by the cafeteria and a few seconds later came to the main entrance, guarded by two soldiers. Ironhide's holoform popped and up muttered to the guards and he disappeared once more. My light headache was starting to ease off. So, I closed my eyes and relaxed my head against the seat, ignoring that this was actually Ironhide I was inside. Ironhide stopped soon after and made me get out, we were at some place where the sun had broken through and was shining down in beams, and bare branches of trees were also in the scene.

I walked ahead and sat on a large boulder which was close to a steep cliff. I heard a slight buzz in the air and knew that Ironhide had popped up his holoform. He walked up beside me and stood there, straight postured like he was at work.

"Can you ease up or something? You act like something's going to attack you!" He glowered at me but then relaxed his stance. Rolling my eyes I went over to where he was standing, and towed him over to the rock, despite his protests.

"What- what in Primus' name are you doing?!"

I rolled my eyes at his predictable antics. "Don't stand over there like a socially awkward cow, sit down!" He raised his eyebrows to his hairline and sat down on a rock near by to mine.

I chose the perfect time to ask Ironhide because the sky was cloudless and the sun was setting. It's like one of those beautiful movie sunsets you never see in real life. But, here it is. And it literally took my breath away. I couldn't speak for a moment.

"It's _beautiful _here!" Ironhide didn't make a sound, he only nodded to agree.

"Why did you bring me here anyways?" He shifted, slightly uncomfortable and answered in a voice thick with an emotion I couldn't decipher.

"I would come here when I was going through, difficult times…you seemed to be in need of a…cheering up."

I don't know what came over me, again. But without thinking, I pecked him on the cheek. Why would I do that, he's an alien for crying out loud! Do they even know what affection or thanks is?

He stuttered, cheeks turning a weird shade of blue, which I have no idea why. Maybe a Cybertronians blood is blue. Do they even have blood? Anyways, I assumed it was a blush and that answered my question about emotions; which made this moment all the more embarrassing.

"I'm sorry," I hopped up from my seat on the rock. "That was a completely stupid thing to do."

"Lena…" Ironhide began, I had to shield my eyes from the lowering sunset and my cheeks looked as if they were sunburned. I had no choice but to look into his eyes because once more he put his hand under my chin. I opened my eyes, and the world exploded in light, literally.

Pieces of rock flew everywhere and Ironhide's holoform push me down on the ground then disappeared. The Earth shook beneath me and I didn't dare look up. I already knew that either there was a decepticon, or Ironhide rolled over a landmine. Both were dangerous.

I could see with the little vision I had at this view that rocks and debris was still falling and Ironhide was fighting. I guess it wasn't a landmine after all. Hopefully it wasn't a decepticon like Barricade. With my luck, they'd be worse than him.

"Maylene," I looked up to see Ironhide blasting his canons off with hits the decepticon in the shoulder. With a roar, it slashes the air with its swords as Ironhide dodges with a barrel roll. "Run!" He yelled, not taking his eyes off the fight. By now he had probably called for back up, so I ran towards to the woods. I could barely see since the sun had probably went below the hills two or three minutes ago.

As I ran the yells of Ironhide fighting drifted away and all I could hear was the panting of my breath. I had no idea where I was going, I was only hoping that Ironhide knew these woods well enough to find me.

When I could no longer hear the sound of fighting, my pace slowed down and I was left sitting on a large root of a tree. I could still see around but the sky was warping into shades of dark blues and grays. I shivered and pulled my arms closer together. I wish I brought a jacket with me. This will sound stupid, but I've forgotten how cold it can get in December. Thinking about it, the cold hasn't ever really bothered me, until now. My brother always use to, and still does, call me a seal because I'm usually never cold.

It was now completely dark, and stars were beginning to show up like polka dots in the sky. The moon was a crescent. He must be searching for me by now; I thought and ripped up some moss off the ground. I breathed into it while I cupped it together in my hands. Maybe it could make me feel warmer, and it did.

Ten minutes went by, and Ironhide still haven't come. I began to suspect that he forgot about me, or that he was injured. But really, he was a weapon specialist, and I have no idea who the other one was, but doesn't Ironhide have a better chance or winning?

After thirty minutes, I thought that maybe the decepticon ha a couple friends in hiding and they were too much for Ironhide and he got injured. Yeah, that's probably what happened. So, I thought it would be best to make my way back to where we were before the attack came. It wasn't that hard because the moon shone some light that lit up the trail enough to make out twigs and fallen branches. I walked carefully at first, but when I got use to the track, I went pretty fast.

I figured out that I must've been walking for a long time. I found that out when I walked for an estimated thirty minutes and I still wasn't at the site.

Most of the fallen twigs were gone now, so I began to jog. Just like one of my midnight jogs at home, I thought happily. I hummed and bounced to the beat of whatever I was humming. I didn't keep track of time.

At some point I burst through all the trees and came across the look out point me and Ironhide had been at. I looked all around and anger washed over me, he forgot about me! Or…he was too injured to tell the others that he brought me here! I burst into a run again, going down the long road, seeing lights of the base in the distance. Luckily, it was maybe four or five miles away. My estimating was usually far off, so I just had to work with what I saw.

By the time I arrived to the base, I was like the walking dead. I was dragging my feet, my ribs, that I haven't noticed until now, were throbbing. I was sweating like a pig and yet I was shivering as if I were in the arctic. I knew I was coming down with the flu.

I came up to the gate and two soldiers blocked my way. "Excuse me ma'am, but this is a restricted area. You can't enter." Just my luck, I probably seem like a psycho walking around here in the night with my hair more than likely sticking up like a haystack.

"I sorry, but I was brought here yesterday. An Autobot, Ironhide, took me out on a ride and we were attacked. He told me to run off and I did, but he didn't come back for me! The spite of him!" They both looked at me harshly. "Ma'am, you're gonna have to come with us." They twisted me around, ignoring my moans of pain from my protesting ribs, and clicked handcuffs on to my wrists. I didn't say a word as they dragged me past the gate and inside the building that had the NEST logo on the door. I knew that it wouldn't help the situation but only make it worse. If there was any possible way of making this moment worse.

I was brought through the halls with all soldiers' eyes on me, which was highly uncomfortable. They knocked on a door and held me out in front of them. When the door opened, Will stepped out and looked at me in shock.

"Lena? Where have you been? And why are you in handcuffs?"

"We spotted her walking up to the gate, sir. We took her in, not knowing she was friends of yours, sir." They let me go and stood back, their heads down. Will smiled at them. "I understand you were only doing your job. You may leave now and continue with watching the gate." They nodded in acknowledgement and stalked away. Will took keys out of his pocket and unlocked my cuffs. I rubbed my wrists and thanked him.

"Lena, what were you doing out in the woods by yourself?! How did you get out of the gates anyways?"

"Ironhide was with me," I mumbled. Exhaustion was starting to catch up on me. "He took me to a look out. Decepticons attacked, told me to run." An alarmed and surprised look came across his face. "You were there during the attack?!" I nodded numbly and my knees collapsed into a heap on the ground. Panicky, Will scooped me up into his arms and began walking quickly down the hall, trying not to jostle me too much.

My hearing started fading in and out, I heard murmuring voices, some shouting. I came partially to my senses when Will took a sharp turn. I opened my eyes to see someone else's eyes looking down on me. I realized it was to holoform of Ratchet. Will spoke to him for a few moments, and Ratchet began cursing and gave Will directions. He placed me down on a bed while Ratchet took on his real form and did something to me that tickled.

I began to feel weak and black dots rose in my eyes. "Will, I don't feel well, everything's blurry" I breathed, using the last of my strength. Will turned around and yelled something to Ratchet, but then there was another voice. This one was furious. So furious I couldn't pick out the words he was saying. I gathered up everything I had and pushed myself upward. The pain in my ribs was unbearable and I could feel something wet gathering on my shirt quickly. My scream could probably be heard all throughout the base. Will panicked and placed his hands on my ribs, I assume trying to stench the flow of blood.

My body flopped back on the bed and I could no longer catch my breath. My vision went off like a television and my world turned black.

That was when I felt my hand enveloped in another. It had hard skin which was comforting at touch, just like when I grabbed it tonight.

"Ironhide…" I regained my vision for a few moments just to see Ironhide's face come into view. His face was panicked and I realized that it wasn't Will who was yelling out the whole time, he was yelling too. I felt oddly touched.

" Lena, what's wrong?" He spoke urgently.

"You're an asshole."

Ironhide stuttered and Will found enough humour in himself to chuckle, the humour I couldn't find in that moment.

Then someone took the TV remote from my hands. They muted it and powered it off.

I fell into darkness with Ironhide and Will shaking both of my hands.

* * *

I'm sorry I took so long, I wanted to have this up by the end of two weeks ago but everything was so hectic!

Okay, serious moment. Do you think I'm going the right way with Ironhide's personality? I believe that once he spends personal time with someone he forms a good friendship bond between them.

This isn't going to be a romance, more like a brother/sister story!

I hope you enjoyed this chapter, please review!

-Taylor


	9. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

In that moment, I didn't dream. All I could see was darkness, a waving darkness. Almost like the black waves you see on a road on a hot day. It would have felt relaxing, but I could still feel everything. My ribs were on fire, I was having trouble breathing, and the front of my shirt was wet. Will and Ironhide were still shaking my hands.

The scary thing about this was that I had no hearing, except extremely muffled words and that I had no mobility of my body whatsoever.

I then realized how serious this was. Great going Maylene, you're gonna spend your Christmas in a Med bay! With Ratchet! Maybe he could give me some pain killers for Christmas!

As if he heard me, I felt a prick in the crease of my arm and everything went numb. I could have hugged him but you know…I couldn't move. Also, I don't think he would appreciate it very much.

Slowly, my black wave world collapsed on me and I floated peacefully in unconsciousness. A strange voice was pulling me deeper and deeper into my mind. One voice then became a million. All around me were all the voices I had ever remembered. I knew from my teachers that I had an extraordinary memory, but I couldn't imagine it like this.

"_Sidney, come here!"_

"_That's right, two for ten dollars. A deal you can't turn down!"_

"_Mom, I can't find it!"_

"_Hello, what's your name?"_

"_Mom, I still can't find it!"_

"_Your fate will soon be fulfilled."_

My head felt like it was about to explode. Despite of all the voices rushing past my deaf ears like a water fall, one stood out from them all. It was a voice of an old man who was gentle, and wise; but whose voice was filled with an authority at the same time. The problem was that I couldn't form a face long with the voice. Why couldn't I do that? With every voice came a face of a stranger. All around me the voices began to drift, one by one. All of them were than gone except for that one, the old mans.

"_Your fate will soon be fulfilled."_

What was wrong with my mind? Could this all be a weird dream? Would I soon wake up back home and laugh about this all? The voice of the man soon began to get louder and louder. I wish I could have been able to cover my ears, even though I couldn't hear. Where had I seen that man before? I knew I had never seen him before, but where had I heard him? Maybe I heard him on a television show, those ones that ponder over life? Yeah, probably one of those shows. Who else says 'your fate will soon be fulfilled'? Maybe he could be a religious leader?

"_You are not far off on your guess, youngling." _

Suddenly, everything lightened up into one bright room. I wish I could have had a camera for the moment, but it was too beautiful to capture. Another reason was that I was too frightened to even move. It was terrifyingly beautiful.

All around me was sand…and metal, an awful lot of metal. Was this a crash site or something? I then realized I had my body back! I could move my arms! I could walk! But how could I do all this when I'm in Ratchets Med Bay with a rib sticking out of me? Are Ironhide and Will here too?

"_Welcome to my realm."_

I ground vibrated and I had trouble keeping myself up straight. When I looked up into the sky, my jaw dropped. I should really get use to this. Above me was a Cybertronian, a _huge_ Cybertronian. His head practically reached the clouds. Who was he?

That's when I remembered him; I spoke to him after I passed out! I tried to speak, but all the came out was air. I was too surprised. He seemed to notice this and chuckled. As if he had shed all his metal, each one of his armor plates fell off one by one until he was around the height of Optimus, which was slightly less intimidating.

"I tend to forget that humans do not know we exist. But you, of course, have had an advantage so your reaction was well under control. I am surprised. Since you have questioned who I am for the past while, I am Primus. I suppose I am like your human religion God."

I had an urge to snort, but if he really was a God, then couldn't he turn me into a goat or something? And how did I end up in his realm?

"How did I get here? I'm back in a Med Bay passed out on a bed!" He seemed to chuckle at this and held out his hand. "Ah, the classic question. I have burrowed you from your body to speak with you once more; though we really shouldn't continue meeting up every time you injure yourself. You may injure yourself too gravely that you might not be able to perform your task correctly!"

He motioned for me to climb up on his hand, I did so hesitantly. How did I know he wasn't going to fling me from his hand?

We began walking down a path and he kept talking. "I have brought you here with me once more because I am to warn you of what is to come. I am not allowed to tell you precisely of events that will happen but I most certainly tell you what you can be prepared for. There is a great force coming upon you and your Cybertronian friends. A force well-known that was to have thought been long gone. Please, take careful precautions in what actions you take. One human I had met had a similar fate like yours and got squished under the pede of a mech."

Primus set me down on the sand and stepped back. "You may take your leave, but from now on, the race to win this war will be your own."

Slowly, the sky went dark. All around, the realm was falling apart. Sand was being sucked like a funnel into the ground, sand and metal mountains were collapsing in on themselves. It seemed like something from the movie 'Beetle Juice,' though I don't think that was an appropriate analogy at the moment.

The black hole was moving up on me and was gradually pulling me into an abyss. I was once again paralyzed in fear, and without a fight, I took me down.

This time I wasn't brought to a foreign land with a God looking down in me, but back to the Med Bay. As usual, I was alone. Did Ratchet leave all his patents alone?

I decided that it was better to stay lying down; my poor ribs have been through enough in the past two days. The clock on the wall in front of me said that it was nine o'clock in the morning, so I've slept through the night. Which is really good for me. This year I've been an insomniac.

So, I stayed lying down for a very, very _long_ time. But you know what's really strange? There was a radio going somewhere in the room. I never really took Ratchet to be the musical type. I was surprised that be didn't take one of his transformable scalpel fingers to dissect the radio of it's every function. I'm saying this, because country music was on, which I knew Ratchet hates. I heard the idiot twins talking about it when we were in the cafeteria. I didn't bother to ask Will about it, he didn't seem too happy.

Maybe it wasn't Ratchet in his office. Maybe it was the twins? I held down a snort thinking of them playing with Ratchet's tools. They'd probably chop off a finger or sedate each other playing catch with a syringe. Wills friends were right when they said it wouldn't be long until I couldn't stand them.

I decided that I had been in bed long enough and wanted somebody to help me up. "Hello?" I called out, and of course, there was no response.

"Hello…" I dragged it out until I ran out of breath, which was around twenty seconds. I looked around for anything that would make a noise and saw a metal cup on the side table. I reached over as far as I could without my ribs protesting and pushed it off the edge with my middle finger.

There was a scrambling in the office and Ratchet came storming out. "What in Primus' name is going on here?" He stalked over to me and ran a scan thingy that tickled, so I giggled. Ratchet raised his 'eyebrows' and growled. "What do you find so funny? You could have torn open your wounds! You could have given yourself more injuries that _I_ would have to fix!"

"Calm down, that thing you did just tickled a little, that's all." His face was incredulous. He threw his arms up in the air. "Tickled? Tickled?! I've told you humans that there is no possible way of my scans _tickling_ you! The defintion of tickling is 'lightly touching or prodding in a way that causes itching and often laughter!'" My face was trying to fight off a grin, but losing quickly, which only increased his anger. Then suddenly his face went blank form any emotion, which was really creepy; though in a matter of seconds he recovered.

"You pushed yourself too far yesterday. You ran with four broken ribs? Unacceptable! All that strain to your chest had actually caused a bone to break through the surface of your skin! Did you even notice the bandages around your ribs had fallen loose? The damage could have been much greater!"

"Yes," I snapped back at him, "It could have been, but it wasn't." Ratchet turned around, snarling under his breath and grabbing something between his two monster fingers. He then bent down and placed it on my lap. My mouth watered. There was a plate with bacon, eggs, and toast.

"William had brought it to me seconds before you had woken up. Now eat, you need energy. I will be back to give you a full exam in the afternoon." When he was gone, my stomach made the loudest growl it had ever made. I was just about to dig in when I noticed something. Will hadn't brought me a fork! Oh well, I guess I had to eat with my hands. I put everything on the toast, folded it as far as it could go and took a huge chunk off of it. My ribs protested with my fast movements, but I didn't mind. The delicious taste of my breakfast made it feel as if it wasn't even there.

While I was munching on the first bite, I noticed the date and I almost spit all my food over the bed. It's a week until Christmas! What does my Mom think happened to me? What about Jay? I never even got to say goodbye! They probably think I'm dead! I bet Mom didn't waste a second giving all my things away if that's what the police said...

Now that I'm thinking about it, the government more than likely came up for an excuse for my absence. Wait...I'm so dead. My project was due yesterday! Great, Now Parker's going to ignore me for the rest of the year. She's obsessed with good grades. My Mom's also obsessed with good grades, so she'll yell her head off at me if I ever get home. She always wanted me to go to law school like she did, but I just don't find anything about it particularly interesting.

I decided that I was being too hard on myself and continued eating my breakfast. I never noticed anyone in the room until someone knocked over a table in the corner. That's when I really ended up spitting my food all over the place and hurting my ribs even more. I moaned for my lost food and the pain in my chest. I was surprised Ratchet didn't storm out of his office at the noise.

"What the hell was that for?" I managed to wheeze out before rolling carefully to my left and clutching my side. At the end of this visit, I was sure that I was going to be announced dead; or at least in critical condition.

"You seemed to be enjoying your food, so I decided to wait for you to finish eating." He began explaining and slowly, the pain was gradually going away so I pushed myself into an up position. "But then, I tipped over the table…which led to you spitting out all your food and rolling over in pain."

"Yes, I was very much enjoying my food, thank you. And I'd also like to thank you for leaving me behind last night." His expression fell and he walked over to the chair that was onside of the bed. When he spoke he sounded extremely tired.

"Lena, I was in your human terms, 'knocked out'. I wasn't able to tell them that you were with me and was told to run off. I was lucky when they arrived. They had just came back from their mission. You were also lucky that there were no other decepticons cloaking their signatures in the area. They could have taken you."

I was at a loss for words. I was so angry at him, but yet so shocked. He had left me alone in the woods with a possibility of signature-cloaked decepticons creeping around in the woods looking for me. But yet, he cared enough about me to actually worry about my whereabouts. I think the pain medication Ratchet gave me was messing with my emotions somehow. Somewhere inside me, there was a voice saying that Ironhide was lying. I crushed it the moment I heard it. Screw thoughts; let's go with my heart for once.

I closed my eyes and relaxed my head against my extremely uncomfortable pillow and took a few breaths. "I believe you." I muttered, "Sorry..." I heard a sigh of relief and Ironhide's holoform leaned back into the chair. I never really took him for the guy that cares, oh well. Looks can be deceiving at times.

We just stayed silent for a few moments until my legs got itchy. I wiggled in my spot and I could just feel Ironhide staring at me with his eyebrows to his hairline. "Is there something wrong?"

I wiggled even more, a dull ache formed under my bandages. "Nothing, my leg's just extremely itchy, that's all. It should go." We stayed silent again for a few moments until the itch grew stronger and my leg twitched in irritation. I moaned and scratched my wrist hastily. Maybe if I scratch somewhere else, I might be able to ignore the itch in the leg!

I opened my eyes to see Ironhide looking at me incredulously. "What at are doing?" I grunted and decided that speaking would only bring more itchiness. He sighed and got up, "Where is the itch." He stated stiffly. I had to blink my eyes a couple of times before answering.

"It's below my knee, to the left." I got instant relief when he started scratching. "Thank you," I breathed and let my body sink into the bed. A couple of seconds later, he stopped and sat back down in the chair.

"If you want to continue living peacefully on this base, never tell of what I just did. I will be worse than the twins when it comes to pranks." I nodded quietly, why would I tell anyways? Ironhide cleared his throat and stood up. I thought it would be a good time to continue my breakfast, which I did greedily. Instantly, Ironhide turned his nose up at me.

"What in Primus' name are you doing? You look like a wild animal. And what is that you're eating?" My mouth was plugged with food so I had to hold up my hand for a minute before I got most of it down. "It's a breakfast…toast…taco?" I mumbled out as crumbs went flying, which Ironhide successfully dodged.

He stayed quiet for the rest of the time I ate my breakfast toast taco, which was heaven in my mouth. When I was finished, I licked off the plate and placed it on the sheets beside me.

I thought about what the bot Primus had said. What did he mean; the fight would be my own? I had to perform my task correctly? When I asked Ironhide of this, he was shocked. I guess it wasn't everyday that you met a Cybertronian God, and twice for that matter.

"I need to speak with Optimus," He had said before removing his holoform from the room. Was there something wrong? I could have slapped myself. Of course there is, Maylene! You were just speaking to the God he believes in, twice, and was told of your fate, indirectly. I wouldn't be surprised if he was freaking out in his mind! But I just can't see him on the floor, kicking in circles.

So I just hummed for a while and twiddled my thumbs. It was a habit I picked up off an old man on a bus after finishing an awkward conversation with him. As I twiddled my thumbs, I wished I had my iPod with me, I bet I could have annoyed the hell out of Ratchet. I might have been able to get him to saw off one of his own fingers while working on a project or something using heavy metal music. But I don't listen to that genre. I prefer classical, country and classic rock. I have a love of Michael Jackson music too.

As time went on, I decided to whistle and sway my head. When the whistling started there was a loud noise inside Ratchets office and he stormed out, angrier than I had ever seem him. Maybe this was his famous 'Hatchet' attitude. I could see he was trying to say something, but he just couldn't get it out. He twisted around and stalked out through the door. Shrugging, I continued. If he was forcing me to stay in bed all day, he can't force me to remain quiet, unless he sedated me. I actually say that at the end of this day, Ratchet is going to be so angry at me he's going to put me under, just for his sake.

Ratchet came storming back in, shaking the floor and dropped something on the side of my bed. It was a wheelchair!

"Here," he snarled sharply. "You're an organic so I cannot throw my wrenches at you. So please, before I loose my complete control, get out of my Med Bay. You shouldn't need the IV any more, but you have broken ribs. So just in case of an emergency, I will place an oxygen tank and mask on the back." He activated his holoform and carefully, he helped me into the wheel chair. Surprisingly, there was no pain. Maybe it was the way he lifted me. Then he took out the IV and put a little round bandage where the hole was.

He put his face into his hand. "Don't make me regret this, Lena. Please, remain out of trouble and don't associate yourself with those retched twins, either pairs. During this season they are always up to something horrible."

I grinned and began rolling myself away. "Of course, Ratchet, do you think I'm a trouble maker?" I laughed as I rolled through the large opened door and down the hall because all I could hear was Ratchet talking to his self. Something that included 'Oh Primus' and 'I'll wield their afts to the ceiling." I don't think he was talking about me, was he? I shuddered.

I rolled myself down the hall to the only place I knew, to the Recreation room. The halls were bustling with activity which made it even harder to maneuver the wheel chair. Most people moved out of the way for me, which was really nice of them, unlike some people who glared.

I came to a stop and rolled myself into the room. It was like all the Autobots were in here! It seemed like this was an airport, people constantly going in and out through the door.

Slowly, I wheeled myself in, no one noticing me. I saw Sam and Mikaela in the corner, Bumblebee nearby talking to another Autobot that was way shorter than all of them. He seemed to be same as Bumblebee, with the friendliness level and all.

I pushed myself closer and Sam and Mikaela saw me. With grins, they ran over to me. But their smiles fell when they saw the wheelchair. "Hey Lena, what happened?" Bumblebee turned around and noticed me and waved, then turned back to the other Autobot. I smiled and waved back.

"It was nothing, just an unfortunate event." They looked at me without a doubt not believing anything I said, but didn't force anything out of me. I guess they know how I feel with the attacks and all, especially Sam.

"Oh well, are you excited for Christmas!" Mikaela asked happily. You could see she was almost bursting with joy. Lucky, I thought, ask least you get to go home for the holidays, I have to stay here. I shrugged and looked at the soldiers who were starting to organize all the decorations. Maybe I could have a good Christmas here.

Mikaela looked like a kicked puppy. "What? Who's _not_ excited for Christmas?!"

I snorted and raised my hand. "Me. I have to stay on base for Christmas. How exciting is that?" I said sarcastically. I think the drugs were finally starting to wear off. I was starting to go back to normal. Mikaela and Sam frowned and looked at each other. "That doesn't sound fun. Want to start decorating with us?"

"I got nothing else to do, so why not? I just won't be as much help as you want me to be..." I looked down at my wheelchair and Sam, the one person who I thought was awful in cheering people up, decided to speak.

"You can make cookies with Mikaela?"

I clapped my hands and rubbed them together. "Now that's something I can do. To the kitchen we go, my dear friend!" we left Sam by himself who was speechless and then went over to Bumblebee and his friend. Sam and the silver Autobot seemed to get along good.

Then suddenly entrance door was slammed into the wall. Everyone turned their heads towards the noise and noticed Ratchet, who supplied with two of his most prized wrenches. Really, at the moment who _couldn't_ notice Ratchet? He was covered from head to toe in silver strings of tinsel. Underneath it was something that looked terribly close to school glue. The whole room grew deathly quiet. We knew if we laughed we would probably get instant death.

"Now," Ratchet said dangerously. "Who will have the pleasure of visiting my med bay this orn?"

* * *

I didn't take too long writing this chapter, I hope you like it!

Also, I hope you all have a wonderful new year!

Please review!

- Taylor


	10. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Ratchet stepped out of the door way and into the room, waiting patiently for someone to speak up. All you could hear was the ticking of a clock over the television. I could tell that someone had fidgeted and that Ratchet had already known the fiend. But still, he waited. Silently, and dangerously; spinning his mech-sized wrenches. I think he was purposely trying to make people feel nervous. You could practically see sweat rolling off some soldiers' necks.

There was a slight movement in the room and Ratchet's first wrench went flying. We all held our breath as it sailed through the air and hit Sideswipe in the head. He cried out and stumbled to the ground, taking Sunstreaker with him.

"Hey!" He cried, "How do you even know it's us?!" He slowly got up, being careful of the soldiers around him and then pulled up Sunstreaker, who was checking himself over. For whatever reason, I don't know.

"There was a line of yellow paint on the corner desk in my office," Ratchet said smugly while Sunstreaker was gaping like a fish without water at his elbow. A wide scratch started at the tip of his 'elbow' and ended half way up the top of his arm.

"_You scratched my paint!"_ He roared then pounced. At first I was suspecting he was going to tackle Sideswipe. But instead, he tackled Mudflap who had extremely wide eyes and was muttering. "Hey bro, don' get mad. Ah'm sorry- gah!" Then both of then went to the ground. If you've never seen Sunstreaker fight, then let me describe it like this. He was definitely the most terrifying person I had ever seen, other than Ironhide.

They rolled along the floor of the rec room and there were over a hundred spectators, cheering each bot on. The Autobots just watched in amusement. Weren't they going to do anything? I leaned over towards Mikaela and asked her the same question. She smirked in amusement. "I guess they haven't told you about their comm systems. They can communicate through their minds with other Autobots at different frequencies, almost like a radio, I guess. By now, one of the Autobots has commed Optimus about this mess." I felt slightly less concerned by her words, and continued to watch the fight. People were moving all around, trying to avoid were Sunstreaker's and Mudflap's bodies were falling.

Everything was one large commotion, which wasn't good for my oncoming headache. There were several shouts as a group of soldiers got pushed out-of-the-way from the path of the fight. Seconds later, Mudflap's foot slammed down right in the exact place they had stood. Looking over at the men, they seemed pretty pale. They must have thought about how it would feel like being under that foot at this moment.

Ratchet didn't interfere one bit, he just hung out in the corner and watched with a satisfied look in his eyes. But they didn't seem satisfied enough. He'll give them each his own special treatment.

They continued fighting until the door of the rec room slammed open and Optimus stood, in all his glory. Sunstreaker stopped in mid-tackle and Mudflap just froze with a terrified expression on his face.

"That is enough," Optimus rumbled and walked towards Ratchet and placed his hand on his shoulder. "I see they have surprised you once more?" I gave a slight snort and Optimus' eyes flicked over at me. I put my head down, embarrassed.

"They did more than surprise me, Optimus. They ruined two of my best wrenches! Now I'll have to order another two…" He grumbled incoherent noises and pounded his hands together. Then, he went over and picked up the wrench that he had thrown. Sideswipe just remained like a statue, in some kind of shock. Ratchet looked around hastily, before stalking out of the room. Everyone sighed in relief, except Sunstreaker, who was still looking at Mudflap with full-blown anger.

"W-wha is you lookin' at Sunstreaker? I helped ya, didn't ah? You should be thankin' meh!" Looking at him with his face plates turned up in disgust, Sunstreaker pushed him.

The ground rumbled as Mudflap tried to regain his balance, toppling right into us, we didn't even get time to run. He just fell._ 'I wonder what it's like to be squat by a fat and pudgy Autobot.' _I closed my eyes, feeling the air shift as he fell.

_BANG!_

My ears vibrated and it was frantic all around. I looked up and saw that we didn't get squished. In fact, we were practically squished between Mudflap's side and his arm. Sighing, I relaxed. Mikaela got up on to her feet, looking as pale as a ghost. "Are you alright?" She asked faintly, I found that I couldn't form any words at the moment, so I just shut my mouth and nodded. The yelling became louder.

"Get up! Get up!" Sam was yelling and there was an hysteric edge to his voice. "Mikaela and Lena are under you! move your fat ass!"

Then there was Skids. "Come on dude, stand up! I'm gonna pull you up if you don't, you might 'ave squished two humans in yo chassis!" Mudflap still hadn't moved, and I was starting to get a little claustrophobic. Why don't they check and see if he actually didn't fall on us? They were too entertained with the thought of Mudflap squashing us. That was why.

Optimus decided to step in and said quickly, "Lift him up, he may have glitched from everything that has happened. We must get Lena and Mikaela out." Then suddenly, the pressure got greater, was his arm going to crush us? But as soon as it came, it left and Mudflap was lifted away from us. It was complete silence in the room when it happened. Then all eyes were on us, everyone staring at us with haunted looking expressions.

Then Sam came running over and took Mikaela up in his arms, kissing her in the process. I guess he though we were grinded up meat for the wolves. It was a touching moment, I must say.

While this was happening, I saw that everyone was just walking around, never even stopping to see if I was alright. I guess that since I was just a stranger, and a guest.

Speaking of that, I should be going home soon, shouldn't I? They can't force me to stay after a month, or two. That's kidnapping and harassment. The floor rumbled as I saw Optimus beginning to kneel beside me, looking worried. I suppose I looked a little wacky after what just happened.

"Maylene, are you well?" He looked a little more than concerned. Scratch what I said; I must look like a total lunatic. It took me a couple of seconds to get my voice back.

"I've n-never been better!" I forced out shakily. Optimus' eyes turned a shade darker, as if he was thinking. Looking away, I didn't notice the way he had looked at me. But now I know that he had given me an expression of such familiarity that it would have shaken me to the core.

"Maylene, I know you are not doing as well as we hoped you would be by this time. I understand that taking you away from your family has brought you grief, but it was all for a reason." I tried to speak but he continued giving a mini lecture. "For whatever reason Barricade had tried to invade your home, it must have been valid enough for Megatron to give the orders. Never, is it a good thing when Megatron gives an order to his troops to offline a human. In doing so, he also targets the victims' families. We do not want anymore danger to come to you or your family."

He turned his head to see Skids slapping Mudflap across the face to try and get him to wake up somehow. Amused, Optimus chuckled. It was an odd sight, seeing such a powerful leader laughing like that. I suppose not even the greatest leaders can stay emotionless, they only do so for the public's eye.

Turning back to me, his eyes gazed into mine, holding century's worth of sadness and forgotten regrets. I wondered then: how long can one carry such a burden of death before they cave into the shadows?

I thought he was going to give me an explanation of why they had decided to keep me here against my will, but instead I got what I didn't expect, an apology.

"Maylene, I have to apologize for acting so rashly to your questions the other day. I had no proper excuse for that outbreak. I hope that you will forgive me."

So this is what the sadness was all about? I laughed a full out, pure, honest laugh. Optimus looked at me, bewildered by my reaction.

"Sorry," I couldn't stop laughing. "It's just that I didn't expect an apology, it was my entire fault anyways. I should be the one apologizing. I'm sorry." I was amazed at how it didn't matter that Optimus was a large metal giant. His smile was as soft as a father's at his baby. It intrigued me to see all the gears in his face move. I had to remind myself to ask Ratchet to give me a proper class on the anatomy of a Cybertronian. Though I think having a discussion about the reproduction of their species would be extremely awkward, so I'll have to cross that off the list.

"I presume that we both then owe an apology to one another." Smirking, I looked up at him and nodded. But he didn't see me at all. He was looking towards Ironhide, who I didn't know could properly smile, was belting out a long, hard laugh.

"You know," Optimus mused, "you've brought great joy to some of my old friends. And we are all shocked to say that you have also improved the behavior of Ratchet." I snickered and watched the scene in front of me unfold. Bumblebee and Ironhide was wrestling lightly. Of course, all the humans were taken up off the floor and on to Autobot-sized tables and chairs to watch. The pair steered clear of where Optimus and I stood. The rest of the Autobots remained on opposite sides, cheering one or the other on.

Optimus looked away and sighed. "For so many millennia's we have fought this war, they deserve happiness when then can get it." I stared at my shoes, which weren't actually mine.

"You know, Optimus, one day everything will go back to normal. You can't give up hope yet. The stars are still shining." Tilting his head, he once again looked down at me, this time it was humorous.

"You humans have such strange philosophy." There was a huge crash and I jumped. Optimus didn't seem too startled and we both turned at the same time to see Ironhide having Bee in a headlock position. I had to smile at that. They were like close family. When I told this to Optimus, he nodded quietly.

"When you have been in years of war, troops, such as mine, tend to get close as a family." He noticed me watching Bumblebee's and Ironhide's interactions. "Bumblebee was just a sparkling when we found him in the rubble of the Youth Sectors. A day care is the closest I can explain to you in your language. I suppose it's also like an infancy unit in one of your health centers. He was the only survivor. Ironhide and I helped care for him. Everybot did. He is now what you would call a little brother to us all. If he was ever lost, we would not be able to live with ourselves."

"I know where you're coming from. I have a little brother named Jay and he practically means the world to me, even though I don't show it. I don't know what I would do if anything ever happened to him. I wouldn't be able to live. I would be eaten with guilt."

So we just stood there, wallowing in each other's depression. Lennox, his surname calling was beginning to rub off on me, saw this and hopped over on the side table next to us.

"Come on guys, don't be such party poopers! At least try to have some fun!"

We looked at each other. "Does this mean that we're good once more?" I asked hesitantly and Optimus smiled. "I don't see why not."

We both walked over to the decorations and Optimus popped up his holoform. Together, we randomly picked out decorations and hung them around the base.

By the time we were finished, the base looked more like a sparkly fairy ballet house than a rugged military base hiding alien robots. Some of the soldier's weren't pleased because they said it made them look like 'softies.' Ratchet wasn't too impressed either. Someone had glued tinsel to his med bay door. Both groups of twins got a kick out of it though. Especially when Ratchet got them in the aft, their terminology for ass…I think, with his medical laser.

The base was starting to get happier than from what I've seen it and Mudflap and Skids have stopped frightening the crap out of me, thankfully. I also heard that the people who stay on base get a turkey dinner. That's the only thing I'm looking forward to this holiday.

Apparently the Autobots also get to leave the base. What a surprise! Extraterrestrials can leave their place on the earth and could destroy anything in a heart beat. And here they have an eighteen year old girl who can't step foot outside without permission? What is wrong with this Galloway guy? A lot from what I've heard.

It was now officially a week before Christmas and soldiers were starting to go back to their families. Lennox and Epps stayed behind to accompany the Autobots during this week before the holidays. I feel bad for them because all around them is sparkly decorations of a fat man with presents and they have no idea what it means. For all we know they might think that we're posting pictures from E-Harmony all over the base! I actually wouldn't be surprised if one of them thought that. Leave it to Ratchet to come up with crazy assumptions.

My mind wandered back to my mother. Did she know about what happened? What will she say when she sees the shrubs and trees tore up with me missing? Has she called the cops? Or has the government paid her not to say anything? Was she glad I was gone?

"Maylene!" I turned my head over the back of my wheel chair as soon as I heard the thumping of huge feet. It was Ratchet.

"Oh, hey Ratchet. What's up?" Ratchet rolled his eyes.

"You humans and your sayings. The logical answer would be the sky, but at the moment…I'm coming to retrieve you for Optimus. Galloway would like to speak to you. Or, he _demanded _you speak with him."

I snorted and crossed my arms, but agreed with Ratchet to meet up with this 'Galloway.' What did he want with me? Ratchet bent down and held out to his hand, much to my surprise.I lifted myself out of my chair and on to his hand. He didn't say anything about getting out of the wheelchair, he narrowed his eyes.

"Careful," he warned me and started walking.

It was a much smoother ride than with Optimus. I guess it was because his legs were so long and had more of an impact than Ratchet's stubbier legs.

Ratchet then made a turn down a hallway I haven't seen in my week at this base, and the lighting got brighter. So bright in fact I had to cover my eyes for a few moments.

Once my pupils adjusted, I took a look around. We were in a large fancy office, Autobot size.

The office was surprisingly welcoming and was really warm. There was a mahogany desk in the center and on it was a huge stack of papers and a couple of photos. I didn't want to get too rude and stare at them, though.

A throat cleared in the corner, and I jumped back in shock. I hadn't even noticed Optimus had been there! And was there a man in the desk earlier? I felt myself blush a deep shade of red.

"S-sorry," I stuttered. Optimus smiled at me while Galloway just stared at me. I swear to god he looked constipated.

"You must be Maylene Vaughn, step forward." Ratchet let me down and I stepped forward with my head bowed, my hands clasped behind my back. I brought myself together and willed some words to spill from my mouth.

"Yes, I am. Hello sir." He looked surprised and his glare dropped off a little.

"Much better behaved than that Witwicky boy. Tell me, do you know why I've brought you here?" He demanded and began to stand and stalk towards me. He had a stack of paper and photos with him. Suddenly I began to sweat. I shook my head.

He smirked slightly and it didn't look too friendly. Goose bumps began to rise on my arms despite the warmth of the room. No one noticed.

"You had an attack located near your home last week. Care to explain?" I creased my eyebrows. What was he talking about?

"I…don't know," I began slowly. "Two Decepticons snuck up to my house and attacked?" Galloway's eyes narrowed and he leaned forward. Behind, Optimus' eyes darkened at his actions. I had no idea what was happening.

"Are you _absolutely sure_ there is nothing else you know about this event?" He leaned even closer to me and my palms became moist with perspiration. Optimus' face contorted into an expression of concern, I think.

I shook my head slowly. "No, sir. I just arrived home with Lennox and his and then they attacked." Galloway's face became clouded and before I could comprehend anything that was going on-"

_BANG!_

Galloway banged his fist against the wall. He turned towards me, his cheeks flushed red.

"I know you are behind something bigger, girl. Why would we have found this?" His hand flashed out in front of me and it was holding a piece of paper. I took it cautiously and peeked at it. What I saw almost made me drop my paper. Galloway seemed to have some satisfaction from my reaction.

"I-it can't be!"

Optimus kneeled down behind Galloway and stared into my eyes. His eyes seeming awfully sad once again.

"Are you saying, Maylene, that you know of this?"

I turned my head to look at the picture, and then back at him. I repeated this three times. I now had absolutely no idea what was going on.

"Of course I know of this, it's the chain my father gave me before he went away for the last time! I lost it when I was twelve…" Galloway didn't look too pleased. When _did _he ever look really pleased?

Optimus tilted his head in confusion. "Maylene, this is a shard of the Allspark. The origin of Cybertron and its people."

I felt a tingling in my side but I just shook it off. It was probably just pins and needles, after all. While this happened I couldn't help but be a little shocked.

"I don't understand. My father said it was a souvenir from one of his trips with his friends. He wanted me to guard it as well as I could…" I trailed off, realizing that there was a strange coincidence behind what I was saying. Could my father have been allied with the Decepticons?

"What your father has told you is only a part of the truth. A shard of the Allspark was connected to this chain to seem like a simple souvenir. But in reality, it has the ability to create new life." I wasn't able to do anything but nod.

We both noticed that Galloway was being oddly quiet, which wasn't like him. I could infer that by spending two minutes with him. His eyes were narrowed and it seemed like he was thinking too hard for his brain to handle.

Then he burst.

"I am putting you under twenty-four seven surveillance and there's nothing you can say for me to change my mind! This girl should be put down for treason! Just give her back to the Decepticons and Megatron can end her!"

Optimus' eyes narrow once more. "I must advise you to lower your voice, Galloway; you will soon attract unneeded attention. Also, I highly disagree with your previous statement. There is no need to put Maylene under such extreme circumstances. My troops and I will carry out anything if it is needed. Not twenty-four hours, but during the day." He flashed an apologetic look in my direction. "I will take Maylene back to her quarters now. Thank you for your time, Theodore." I'm not joking when I say Galloway turn a shade of purple. Optimus became concerned.

"Galloway, are you suffering from air deprivation?"

The shade of purple just turned darker. He pointed a shaking finger to the door.

"Go. Now." He demanded and Optimus, Ratchet, who I didn't notice was still there and I didn't waste anytime bolting from the room. No one wants Theodore Galloway up their asses.

Ratchet gave me a lift to my room, which was attached to the Med Bay, and left me there with a stack of books me must have scoured up for me. They looked pretty interesting though. I thanked him and went straight to the books. That's when I remember I left my wheel chair in the Rec Room. Oh well, I shrugged and went on reading what ever I picked up. Looking at the cover, I noticed that it was _The Outsiders. _It was pretty small so I guess I could read it today.

When I said I thought I could read it today, I meant twelve hours. I was so enthralled in reading this book that it only took four hours to completely finish it. Will came in to talk to me, but I pushed him out and locked the door. No one interrupts Maylene from her reading time. No one.

When I finished, I just stared up at the ceiling, summarizing the whole book in my head. I didn't want to reach for another book because I would probably forget half of what happened in this one. That's how I am after I read. I'm too scared, or too obsessed with a book I read that I can't stop thinking about it and won't read another thing with words on it until the phase passes. My teachers use to throw fits because of that tendency.

An abrupt flash in my vision caused me to sit up, I looked around and out through the window to see if there was any mirrors or lights, but there was nothing. I growled when I noticed the pins a needles were still in my side. Was that even natural?

It felt like it was slowly spreading throughout my entire left side, which was extremely uncomfortable. I massage the skin softy, remembering my ribs, and it turned into more painful pokes and prods than the ticklish kind. It actually started to hurt so much that I sat down, clutching my side. I was unable to call for Ratchet because I somehow lost my voice.

Then, twenty seconds after it came, it left again. I sagged in relief up against the post to the bed, gasping for breath.

I lifted up my shirt, my mouth began opening and closing like a fish.

On lower left side was an intricate tattoo, it was a mix of Japanese, Chinese and Thai. I poked it and tingling traveled throughout my body. The symbol actually looked like it was glowing a bit, too.

I lowered my shirt and relaxed my head against the wall.

What's happening to me?

* * *

I'm back! Mid-terms were a pain, but I at least got the highest grades! I'm going to try to update as much as possible. It's a possibility that I'll get one up next week. Hopefully even earlier!

Also, I'm sorry for taking so long. Fanfiction has been giving me a hard time trying to log in. The page wouldn't load.

Thank you for everyone who reviewed, it means so much to me!

Review!

- Taylor

And also I keep forgetting to put this at the end of each chapter: I don't own Transformers...


	11. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

The tattoo stayed, no matter how hard I tried to scrub it off in the shower, or if I tried scratching it off. The skin on my torso was now red and raw. It hurt if anything had to brush across it. Through it was pretty easy to ignore.

My ribs were healing nicely, too. Ratchet forced me to stay in the Med Bay after Mudflap almost squished Mikaela and me. As if I listened to him. Though after escaping two times, he locked the Med Bay doors. Only the Autobots could use the Comm. system to get him to let patients in.

He came to check on me every two hours, to see what I was doing. I usually read books from the stack he set on my bedside table, 'recommendations from the soldiers' he said. Well, these soldiers I have to meet because they have amazing taste in reading material. I hardly ever read before, so this is what happens when enclosed spaces get to me.

I actually can't believe that it was only two days until Christmas now, and Ratchet still won't let me out of his sight!

I could hear Christmas tunes playing in the halls outside the doors and Ratchet grumbles about how he can't focus, he turns off his audio receptors. Is what he called them, and worked for the day. And even though he can't hear, I still can't escape!

It gets extremely boring around here, and I just can't find anything to do! I've read all the books Ratchet gave me and he won't give me anymore, he said I should have 'made them last.' I did, he's just keeping me in this damn Med Bay for too long! I need to try to convince someone to help me get out of this place. Or maybe, I can just search for something that could keep me content for the next day. Ratchet had to let me out on Christmas Eve!

I hopped up from my bed, my ribs almost healed, it didn't hurt anymore. I looked under my bed, in the closet and on a little bookshelf in the corner. Nothing, nothing at all! I growled and slumped against the small side table.

'Click.'

Something inside rolled around and hit the side of the drawer. I slowly opened the drawer and my heart lifted with joy. It was a pencil with sheets of paper! I haven't drawn for months now!

Smiling, I lifted the pencil and pad of paper out of the drawer and sat in a chair by the window. I thought about what I could draw. I didn't feel like drawing anything having to do with nature, and I didn't like drawing my surroundings. I like to draw memories.

With pencil to paper, I began to draw. I closed my eyes remembering something from when I was younger.

We were shopping for my father's birthday present. He was away on some mission over in Qatar. Though my mom told me he was resting at a base at the moment and for me not to worry.

We went into a store and picked out the perfect gift for him, an antique watch. My little brother turned his nose up at it and said to buy him something cool. But I knew that my father had a strange fascination with these things. It was his hobby; he would take watches apart and put them back together all over again. Everyone brought their broken watches to him when he was off duty. You may find it strange, but in the town I lived in, we were close as family. Well, most of us, anyways.

_We were watching the news on a television screen through the window in an electronic store after and we noticed that there was something important made the main headline. My brother couldn't read and my mom was too busy checking her cell phone telling us she would soon have to go back to her firm. But I was watching the screen with an unbreakable gaze. I saw that there had been an attack in Qatar. Shaking my Mom's sleeve, I pointed at the screen. My Mom burst into tears, telling us that that's where our father was stationed. They said there were only five survivors. The chances of my father being alive were slim._

_We went home and my mother barricaded herself in her room, she left me and Jay without anything to eat. Though luckily I had watched enough of my mother's cooking to be able to whip up a sandwich for myself and Jay. It tasted pretty foul, but we were hungry, so we ate it._

_My mom then came out of her room and told us we were going on a vacation. I and my brother looked at each other, confused. My mother had never taken us on a vacation; it was usually our Dad that took us, and that was barely at all since he was gone so much. So we went on a week trip to Mission City. Of course, all my Mom would do was shop, but my brother and I would always find something to do. After scaring some of the customers in a couple of stores though, we got kicked out by the manager. I had never seen my mother so embarrassed. When the end of the week came, it was almost the end of our trip, we were in a store I had never seen before, and the building shook. My mom put her arms around us and we ran outside. Everyone was confused, but as soon as debris started falling, they began screaming and running like a herd of mice._

_The three of us were outside and I had looked up into the sky with utter fascination as jets flew over head. My brother pointed out all the explosions going on the street behind a building in front of us. People ran out of the store, some were carrying each other while others didn't even have the strength to carry themselves. They collapsed on the ground and people stepped on them as they ran out. My mother covered our eyes after that._

_She got us running down the road and hid behind a truck in an alleyway, though the explosions were still loud enough to hurt our ears. But despite all the noise, we could hear soldiers yelling, firing round at whatever caused this to happen._

_The noises and the gun fires were getting closer, my Mom panicked and made us run further to fins cover, my brother was only four at the time, he was enjoying this all, saying it looked like War of the Worlds, my mom didn't like that reference, she made us run even faster. That was when were heard yelling behind us, I tripped and fell in a piece of metal, causing a gash in my upper arm. I wasn't a fan of blood. I started to get dizzy._

_Then a pair of arms wrapped around my waist and pulled me up. Turning around, I noticed the man was tan, wore sunglasses and was a soldier. My father._

_My mom stumbled back and threw her arms around him. Her legs gave out as an explosion rocked us from behind. But my Dad held her up, and they kissed. It seemed like the world had slowed down around them and debris fell on their faces, but they didn't mind. If all of us dropped dead at that instant, they wouldn't have noticed._

_It was the first time I had seen my mother show any love that she had for my father. And the last time I had seen him alive._

That's what I draw; I thought back to that day and drew the love on my fathers face and the grief on my mother's. I drew the explosions going off in the background and the bodies strewn on the ground. It was a perfect mixture of gruesomeness and the triumph of love. I shaded it in a way that it would look haunting. My mothers long wavy hair wisped in the breeze of the flying jets over head and my father's coal hair plastered to his face, his eyes slightly visible behind the shades he was wearing.

It made me feel…empty when I drew things like this, because I had never told people what I saw after that day. I had never told a single secret, nor did I actually ever look happy. I guess I was just putting my words into a picture. After all, a quote once said a picture is worth a thousand words.

I don't know how long I was there drawing, but it was so quiet that I could hear my heart beating and the sound of ringing in my ears. Everyone was probably in the rec room while I was banned in here. But I didn't really mind it anymore, it helped me think. I can't remember the last time I had complete silence and time to myself.

I was almost finished when there was a knock on the door and it opened and then in walked Ratchet with his holoform, looking as grumpy as ever. He looked around and froze when he saw me in the chair by the window. I had my feet against the windowsill, and my hair in the messiest bun I had ever prepared my hair in. I guess when I looked up I seemed pretty tired because my clothes were sort of wrinkled and I had no shoes on.

He headed towards me and looked over my shoulder. When he saw the picture, he froze. With his eyebrows crinkled in confusion he asked me, "Do you know this man?" I tilted my head, wondering why he would ask such a question.

"Yeah, he's my father." I pointed to him in the picture and then to my mother. "And that's my mother." He just stood there for a moment, as if in a trance but then smiled slightly. "You're a very talented artist. I think Sunstreaker would begin to not dislike you if he saw these photos."

"Well, I'll be sure to show them to him." I noted dryly, and turned back to finishing the shading. I started to become irritated when Ratchet still didn't leave after five minutes. I turned back to face him, he still stared at the drawing.

"Do you want me the make a copy for you?" I asked sharply and Ratchet's face turned sour.

"No, I wish to check on your ribs, I believe the bandages can soon come off. Also, the stitches in your side will soon have to be removed." He made me step away from my work and as soon as I started to lift up the bottom of my shirt, I froze.

The tattoo, he would see it if I pulled up my shirt. I quickly straightened out the hem of my shirt. "Y'know Ratchet, I think my ribs are pretty good, they still hurt a little so I'll keep it on a bit longer." I laughed and I cursed at myself when it sounded shaky. Ratchet's eyes narrowed and he stepped closer.

"Nonsense, I need to change the bandage and check to see if the stitches are ready to come out." I was hesitant, but then slowly pulled up my shirt, by now Ratchet must have realized I was hiding something.

He started to remove the bandage when he noticed the marking. He dropped the bunch of gauze he had rolled up and leaned in the examine it, and his face went pale. His index finger brushed gently across the symbols and a burning sensation enveloped my entire torso. I hissed and cringed away, but he continued to trace his fingers over it. The pain slowly began to fade and Ratchet straightened and once again began to remove the bandaging. He checked it over and ran a scan on me…which felt slightly invasive. He cleared his throat.

"Well, the bandages have to stay on, and the stitches will have to remain for another day or two." He re-wrapped my ribs and his eyes stayed focused on the tattoo. Self conscious, I wrapped my arms around myself, hiding it.

There was an awkward silence until it was broken by Ratchet.

"Maylene…" He started slowly "When did you receive this marking?" Something in his eyes told me he had some knowledge on what it meant. I look to ground.

"The other day, my side felt like it was burning and when it disappeared, this was left there. Do you know anything about it?" Sighing, he told me I could pull down my shirt. I did so and waited for an answer.

"It's the language of the Primes; I believe Optimus may be able to translate it. None of us know how to speak the language of the Primes. Optimus may have an idea of what it means." I nodded; agreeing. waiting for Optimus' opinion on this seemed like a pretty good idea.

"Can I get out of here soon? I'm starting to feel a little claustrophobic." Ratchet made a face; I could see he didn't like the idea. "Maylene, I'm not sure…you're still healing and you seem to attract danger in every possible way…"

I scowled and crossed my arms. "Come on Ratchet, I'm touched with how much concern you express for me." He gave me a sharp glare but I continued. "But it's two days before Christmas! You guys won't even let me see my family, and that damn Galloway creep wants me under arrest and I'm practically dying of boredom in here!"

Ratchet hesitated but then nodded. "You can come with me to my office. Just don't touch anything in which I don't grant you permission to touch, _anything."_ I whooped and flung my airs up in the air, hitting Ratchet's nose in the process, he looked at me dirtily. Keeping in my snickers, I waited by the door for him and sighing, his holoform disappeared and the real Ratchet squatted down and held his hand palm up for me to hop on.

Really, Ratchet's Med Bay was fairly large. Of course, it needed to be big enough so that he and the rest of the Autobots could walk around freely without bringing up in anything. But just looking around, it made me feel overwhelmed. The berths were so tall compared to the little human beds not too far from it. It was far away enough that a bot patient would roll over on them if they well out of the berth.

There's one problem, do robots move around in their sleep? I wonder if they talk or sleep walk…that would be a sight. But not for the poor man under their foot.

Ratchet set me down on the floor close to his supplies and went to work. So I just went over to the miniature desk and played on the computer. Each time one of my fingers struck the keys, he flinched or one of his hands twitched.

When I got bored with solitaire, I went on Google and did random searches. Ratchet was still annoyed by the clicking of the keys. I decided the give him a break and scrolled down through a strange website.

I came across something that made me giggle, even though I'm ashamed to admit it. Ratchet turned his head slightly to see what I was up to, but then went back to concentrating on his work. I continued to let out snorts and snickers of laughter.

Giggle, twitch.

Snort, growl

Giggle-

Ratchet slammed the tool he was using- which ironically looked like a mega ratchet, down on his work table. Turning around, I could practically see steam rolling out where his ears were suppose to be. I exited the window I was on and twirled in the chair.

"Why in the pit are you laughing?" I shrugged and kept spinning in the chair. Ratchet grew agitated.

"Stop spinning, you're going to become dizzy." I kept spinning, and he growled. Turning back to his work, I continued to spin. I spun until I could no longer see the glitter on the ceiling and my eyes began to close. That's when I stopped and put my head between my legs, I groaned and I could hear Ratchet chuckling. Of course, only when someone else was miserable, he would be happy.

"It serves you right, youngling. I'm working on a very important project." I felt like I wanted to ask him what it was about, but he would probably get into a lengthy explanation, so I dropped it.

Silence ran throughout the Med Bay, the only sound was my breathing.

Then Ratchet went on something he called a data pad. He said it was something like our book, more so encyclopedias. Or maybe like an e-reader.

Abruptly, Ratchet stood up straighter and held a finger to the place where supposedly his audio receptors would be. I think he must have had a message come in through his comm. system.

When he released his finger from the side of his head, he sighed and went back to his data pad. My head snapped to Ratchet's office door when the sound off the Med Bay door opening and shutting loudly ricocheted around the almost empty room. The foot steps of a mech rumbled against the floor and I hopped out of my chair to see who was coming. I couldn't even get five meters before having to dive out of the way to avoid once again, another foot.

When I looked up, I noticed it was Ironhide. He looked down as I waved, and grunted in return. Frowning, I walked back over to my desk, and played solitaire with myself. While I was doing so, Ratchet and Ironhide was communicating through a variety of whirs, clicks and whistles. It drove me that I couldn't understand anything of what they were saying.

This continued for a least five more minutes before Ironhide nodded at him, and began to leave. But before walking out the door, he turned to me and then to Ratchet.

"What's wrong with the Femme?" He said loudly, as if expecting I wouldn't hear him. I growled and wiped all the cards off the desk. Both of them looked at me, startled. They looked at each other for a few moments before turning their gaze again, at me.

"Do you want to know what's wrong with me? I've been taken from my family, and am now living with twenty-something-foot robots! And to top it off, there's this shitty 'health food' that could give anyone food poisoning in the cafeteria! Also, I'm held against my will in a room with nothing but a pack of cards. It's two days before Christmas and you won't let me out! Please, just let me work on something of my own. Something to keep me occupied!"

Ironhide raised his eyebrows in amusement, while Ratchets eyes were twitching, muttering under his breath a mile a minute. Throwing my hands up and huffing, I returned to my spot and started an interesting game of fifty-two pick up.

Ironhide didn't leave after that; he just stood there with Ratchet, taking quick peaks at me every now and then. I annoyed me, but I tried to ignore them. So I went back on the computer. I didn't care about Ratchet's constant twitches with each click of a keys; I just cared whether or not they would stop staring. I went on a game website and started playing the loudest action game I could find. Using explosives whenever I could, I made both Ironhide's and Ratchet's eyes twitch in irritation. Then Ratchet popped out a scalpel from his fingers and sliced the power cord to the computer in half.

"Oops," he muttered and flicked the knife back into his finger.

"Hey, what was that for?!" I cried and scrambled from my chair to get a better look at them. Ironhide smirked and moved his feet around to regain some comfort. Ratchet glowered.

"You were playing children games in my office! Not even fit for a child!"

"Well you and Ironhide were staring at me as if I was some kind of animal experiment." I countered and began walking towards the door. But Ironhide got in my way and forced me to stay.

When I looked up, Ratchet looked like he had calmed down a little. He kept his distance and started to pace.

I looked up at Ironhide, though it hurt to crane my neck so much since I was still at his feet.

"Hey Ironhide, did you know turtles can breathe through their butts?" He blinked, and looked down at me incredulously. Ratchet stopped once again to stare at me. I was starting to get tired of this, or whatever was happening.

"Maylene," Ratchet started slowly. "Can you repeat what you just said?"

Frowning, I shrugged. "Okay, the whole 'turtles can breathe through their butts' thing?" Ironhide's eyes went wide. His head snapped back to Ratchet and they started to nod at one another. I guess they wanted to talk privately.

"Guys, what's going on?" Looking into their eyes, I could tell that it was far from normal. There was a knock on the wall and Will walked in. "Hey, Ratchet, Ironhide, Lena," He acknowledged us by smiling in our direction. Looking around, he noticed our stances and knew something was off. I began to speak, but then Ratchet cut me off, flashing a warning glance in my direction.

"There's nothing to be concerned about, William. I presume you have many worries on your mind and I would not like to add anymore. There's just a slight problem with Maylene." Will looked my way and seemed confused.

"There doesn't look like there's anything wrong with her." Sighing angrily, I walked up beside Will.

"That's because there isn't!" I cried. Will's head shot towards me, his eyes bugging out of his head. I looked at myself, scanning for any injuries. Ironhide walked around and stopped behind me and Ratchet preformed a scan that made me grunt as it tickled.

"Nothing appears wrong, Maylene. But don't you realize that the words you are speaking aren't in English?" Creasing my eyebrows, I shook my head. "No…" trailing off, I scuffed my feet on the floor.

"If I were speaking another language, wouldn't I hear it?" Ratchet clicked in a few things on his data pad and turned around. "Yes, you normally would. But we're not talking about the normal." He went towards his large shelf and took down some more data pads. He flipped through them as fast as possible; muttering so fast that just trying to wrap my head around it was making it whirl.

Ratchet shook his head, flipping through the pages. "This is incredible. There was never a single occurrence like this…" he continued to flip through data pad after data pad. Ironhide held one of his fingers up to his ear, messaging someone. Will just stood in his place, looking at me with that same gaped-mouth look.

I began clicking my shoes together, becoming nervous of the looks I was getting.

"So Ratchet, what language-" I started to speak, but then was cut off my Optimus, who entered the room. Ratchet looked up and started speaking in a rushed voice to him, explaining the tattoo. Everything else was too panicked and I couldn't decipher what he was saying.

Optimus looked towards me. "Maylene, how are you?"

I raised my eyebrow. "Really, I'm not trying to be rude or anything, but you're asking me how I'm doing while everyone is freaking out around me and I don't have the slightest clue why?"

Optimus took a step forward and squinted his eyes on to me and started to speak to Ratchet in a rushed, hushed tone. It went on for what felt like forever, and all we could hear was the ticking of the clock.

They finished speaking and just stood there for a moment. I decided to break the silence.

"What's going on? If I'm not speaking English, which I'm pretty sure I am, what language am I speaking?"

Ratchet looked hesitant to tell me, and kept quiet. He returned to his work. Then I turned towards Optimus, who was looking almost uncomfortable and was shifting his weight from foot to foot.

"Optimus, tell me," I insisted. He sighed and kneeled down. He closed his eyes for a second, then opened them again, looking gravely down towards me.

"Maylene, we do not know how, or why this is happening, so I must warn you of something before I speak. We are not sure if this has any connections to the Allspark shard that was in your possession in your previous years. Or, it may have happened during the attack. Barricade might have triggered something inside you that is causing your mind to behave this way…"

"Maylene, somehow you are speaking Cybertronian."

I don't know how, but I ran and didn't slow down. It was by sheer luck that Optimus had left the main entrance open and I bolted for the door, not stopping for anyone.

* * *

Okay, here's chapter ten! I hope that you're enjoying this story at least a little bit, I know my writing can be pretty bland and I'm trying to work on it.

Thanks for the reviews, I'll be sure to update as soon as possible. If you don't hear from me in the next week, Fanfiction has striked again.

Also, in the flashback, Maylene would be around twelve or thirteen!

Review!

-Taylor


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